Chelsea face Uefa investigation into alleged anti-Semitic chanting during Europa League game

Chelsea will find out at the end of February whether or not they will be hit with a partial stadium ban for the anti-Semitic chanting during their final Europa League game against Vidi.

Uefa on Tuesday confirmed that disciplinary proceedings have been opened against Chelsea based on the report submitted by the ethics and disciplinary inspector who looked into the case.

The Uefa control, ethics and disciplinary body will now rule whether or not Chelsea should be punished at their next meeting on Feb 28, seven days after the club’s Europa League last-32 game against Malmo at Stamford Bridge.

That means Chelsea will not be forced to close part of their stadium for the Malmo game, but Uefa could still impose a partial stadium ban for a future European game.

Article 14 of Uefa’s regulations state that, if supporters are found guilty of behaviour “that insults the human dignity of a person or group of persons on whatever grounds, including skin colour, race, religion or ethnic origin”, the minimum punishment is the partial closure of their home stadium in a subsequent fixture. This would be Chelsea’s first offence and a second incident would see them forced to play a match behind closed doors.

The Uefa statement confirming that Chelsea face punishment for the chanting in Vidi read: “Based on the report submitted by the Uefa Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector commissioned to conduct an investigation – according to Article 31 (4) of the Uefa Disciplinary Regulations (DR) – in relation to the alleged racist incidents that occurred at the aforementioned match, Uefa has announced that disciplinary proceedings have been instigated against Chelsea FC in accordance with the Article 55 of the DR. The Uefa Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body will deal with this case on the occasion of its next meeting on 28 February 2019.”

Chelsea have been hit by a series of allegations of racism by their fans over recent monthsand chairman Bruce Buck has been forced to reiterate the club’s zero policy stance on the issue.