Borussia Dortmund are likely to face sanctions after displaying a banner reading “UEFA Mafia” before Tuesday’s Champions League tie with Celtic.
The nine individual letters spelling out the message were held up by supporters in the ‘Yellow Wall’ at the Westfalenstadion, accompanied by a second banner which read, “You don’t care about the sport — all you care about is money”.
Dortmund fans displayed a third banner promoting the website “Reclaim the Game”, a blog detailing supporter criticism towards the new Champions League reform.
As is UEFA protocol, the governing body will wait for reports from the match before considering any action.
UEFA has previously sanctioned clubs for the use of the word “mafia” as this is considered a “provocative and offensive message”.
In March 2022, Marseille were fined €20,000 for displaying a “UEFA Mafia” banner during their Europa Conference League play-off match against Qarabag, for which the club later apologised. The banner was deemed to be “transmitting provocative messages of a political and offensive nature”.
Dortmund fans have a history of anti-UEFA protests. During last season’s Champions League group stage tie against Newcastle United, supporters threw fake money, gold bars and tennis balls onto the pitch and displayed multiple banners appearing to criticise European football’s governing body.
During the Newcastle fixture, two of the banners contained the same message as displayed against Celtic on Tuesday. Drawings appearing to depict FIFA president Gianni Infantino, PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi and former Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli were also held up.
Dortmund were fined €7,375 by UEFA for throwing objects onto the pitch but faced no action for the anti-UEFA banners.
A section of the Reclaim the Game blog reads: “The magic of European competitions is being increasingly devalued by UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA). With the reform of the UEFA club competitions in the coming season, this magic is in danger of being lost altogether.
“The growing number of matches in the competitions will push players and fans to their limits. The significantly increased revenue to be generated by the reforms also has the potential to destroy the national competitions and pave the way for an impending European Super League.”
The new Champions League format was introduced this season and has expanded the competition from 32 teams to 36. A ‘league phase’ has replaced the group stages, and teams now play eight games instead of six.
The format was introduced by UEFA with the hope it will lead to more competitive fixtures from the off, with bigger games earlier in the tournament because the top teams will play each other earlier rather than largely being kept apart until the knockout phase.
Dortmund were 7-1 winners over Celtic on Tuesday evening, with Karim Adeyemi scoring a first-half hat-trick.
(Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
