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NYON, Switzerland, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Feyenoord's UEFA Cup match with Tottenham Hotspur could be played behind closed doors following a UEFA decision to appeal against the Dutch club's recent punishment for crowd trouble. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV>
Feyenoord were fined 200,000 Swiss Francs ($164,200) and handed a suspended sentence of playing two matches in an empty stadium which will come into force if the club's supporters misbehave again.
The sanction was imposed by UEFA's independent Control and Disciplinary board, but UEFA has now decided to call for a more severe punishment, with the organisation's chief prosecutor launching an appeal against the decision.
The punishment was imposed after ugly scenes during Feyenoord's UEFA Cup match against Nancy last month when tear gas was used to control rioting Feyenoord fans who spilled onto the pitch.
The match was suspended for half an hour.
'This has happened on a number of occasions before,' UEFA spokesman William Gaillard said on Friday. 'The reasoning in this case is that there have been so many previous incidents involving Feyenoord.
'We are asking the disciplinary committee to reconsider the sentence. One possibility might be that the sentence to play behind closed doors is not suspended and comes into force immediatly.'
UEFA said in a statement that an appeals hearing was expected to take place in early January.
Ironically when the clubs met in the second leg of the 1974 UEFA Cup final, Spurs fans rioted in Rotterdam and many were injured by baton-wielding police as Feyenoord won the match 2-0 to win the final 4-2 on aggregate.
By being drawn together the clubs made some European soccer history as they will become the first clubs ever to meet in five successive decades of European competition, not including qualifying or preliminary rounds.
They first met in the old European Cup in the 1961-62 season and have met in either the UEFA Cup or old Cup Winners Cup in every decade since then.
<BR clear=all><DIV class=text11 style="BACKGROUND: #fff"><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>
NYON, Switzerland, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Feyenoord's UEFA Cup match with Tottenham Hotspur could be played behind closed doors following a UEFA decision to appeal against the Dutch club's recent punishment for crowd trouble. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV>
Feyenoord were fined 200,000 Swiss Francs ($164,200) and handed a suspended sentence of playing two matches in an empty stadium which will come into force if the club's supporters misbehave again.
The sanction was imposed by UEFA's independent Control and Disciplinary board, but UEFA has now decided to call for a more severe punishment, with the organisation's chief prosecutor launching an appeal against the decision.
The punishment was imposed after ugly scenes during Feyenoord's UEFA Cup match against Nancy last month when tear gas was used to control rioting Feyenoord fans who spilled onto the pitch.
The match was suspended for half an hour.
'This has happened on a number of occasions before,' UEFA spokesman William Gaillard said on Friday. 'The reasoning in this case is that there have been so many previous incidents involving Feyenoord.
'We are asking the disciplinary committee to reconsider the sentence. One possibility might be that the sentence to play behind closed doors is not suspended and comes into force immediatly.'
UEFA said in a statement that an appeals hearing was expected to take place in early January.
Ironically when the clubs met in the second leg of the 1974 UEFA Cup final, Spurs fans rioted in Rotterdam and many were injured by baton-wielding police as Feyenoord won the match 2-0 to win the final 4-2 on aggregate.
By being drawn together the clubs made some European soccer history as they will become the first clubs ever to meet in five successive decades of European competition, not including qualifying or preliminary rounds.
They first met in the old European Cup in the 1961-62 season and have met in either the UEFA Cup or old Cup Winners Cup in every decade since then.