UEFA Disciplinary Commission could ban fans from Thursday’s FK Partizan vs Ħamrun Spartans – Serbian reports

Ħamrun Spartans could end up playing in an empty Partizan Stadium in next Thursday’s first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League play-offs, according to Serbian reports.

The Maltese representatives will face Partizan with a group stage berth at stake. Thursday’s game is scheduled at 9pm.

Serbian giants Partizan Belgrade are waiting anxiously on the UEFA Disciplinary Commission’s ruling in the coming hours after their supporters’ behaviour in last week’s tie against AEK Larnaca was reported by the UEFA delegates.

According to the UEFA report, Partizan’s fans are accused of discriminatory chants towards AEK Larnaca player Nenad Tomovic, formerly of arch-rivals Red Star Belgrade. Tomovic himself was also seen involved in a scuffle with a photojournalist at the end of the match.

Also after the game, Partizan’s players were harassed by their own fans who demanded their shirts after they were eliminated from the Europa League following their 2-2 against the Cypriot side.

Clashes between the police and the fans in the eastern stand of the Partizan stadium were also reported.

The Serbian media is reporting that UEFA could decide to either shut down particular stands or else play the game behind closed doors.

As a result, Partizan are yet to announce any ticket information for Thursday’s game until the final decision arrives.

A complete ban on supporters could affect Ħamrun’s travelling fans who have decided to join the team in this historic play-off match up.

Spartans’ fans have played an important role in Ħamrun’s journey in this competition so far having present in all away games, boosting the team’s morale as Branko Nisevic’s went on to eliminate Alashkert of Armenia, Velez Mostar of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Levski Sofia of Bulgaria.

Read: It was electrifying, a dream come true: Ħamrun Spartans fans on historic match.

Partizan have repeatedly played European matches behind closed doors including in recent games against Molde of Norway and AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands.

However, it is important to point out that in recent times, UEFA had decided to still have fans in matches when it issues ground closures.

Last June, England played their UEFA Nations League match against Italy and the match was watched by a crowd of 3,000 fans which were largely made up of children aged under 14 as, under UEFA rules, they are allowed free admission to fixtures played behind closed doors.

The Serbian side have appointed new coach Gordan Petric, who guided Partizan to a last-gasp winner in the league over the weekend.

Watch: Partizan win under new coach as they set sights on Ħamrun.

In his post-match comments, Petrica has urged the supporters to back the players if they want their club to succeed.

“Since I am down on the bench, I can hear a lot of things,” Petric explained.

“It hurts me to see that the players are not being supported in this moment. There a lot of young players here and they need to be supported.

I would like them all to step into our shoes and come down to this very difficult job at Partizan.”