For years, the European football association Uefa has been handing out fines to clubs for supporters’ cries. The Helsinki Football Club has also become the payer.
The Norwegian club SK Brann opposes the fines imposed by UEFA. The club’s supporters performed “illegal songs” during the team’s matches in the Women’s Champions League.
The European supporters, who have resisted UEFA’s grip on power for years, shout “Uefa mafia”. According to UEFA, the shout is provocative and offensive.
The Helsinki Football Club has also received fines for the screams of its supporters. In 2022, the club paid 15,000 euros for shouting at one match and last year Part of the 17,500 euro bill came from “Uefa mafia” shouts.
Brann supports his supporters
The Norwegian Brann was fined 5,000 euros in January. The fans shouted a couple of words in the match against St. Pölten from Austria.
Now the club has received another fine of the same amount. At the FC Barcelona match in March, supporters protested by shouting and holding signs that read Uefa mafia. In addition, they had a fine for the club painted on the sheet. The club is on the side of its fans.
– Brann supports his supporters. The red line, which according to UEFA has been crossed, should be moved. The chant is within the scope of freedom of speech and Uefa should discuss whether it can be called Uefa mafia, Branni chairman Aslak Sverdrup tells For the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK.
Sverdrup says that the club has requested an additional explanation of the reason for the more recent fine. He also notes that Branni’s men’s and women’s teams have their own budgets.
– The fine is half of what is imposed in men’s football. It stings a lot more for Branni’s women’s team when the fine is so big. It is not acceptable, says Sverdrup.
The chairman wrote to the British newspaper Guardian at the beginning of April, where he wondered about the previous fine. Among other things, Sverdrup points out that UEFA’s position is contradictory. The association both determines and judges the penalties and thus decides what expression is offensive and worthy of sanction.
NRK asked Branni about the sanction from Uefa.
– It is worth emphasizing that the term “mafia” has long been, according to UEFA’s disciplinary bodies, offensive and inappropriate for a sporting event. It therefore violates Uefa’s disciplinary regulations, Uefa responded by email.
The association also emphasizes that sanctions are systematically imposed for the use of the term, regardless of who it is addressed to.
Branni’s representatives have met with UEFA management and discussed the club’s sanctions. Sverdrup believes Brann’s resistance can bring about change.