Fightback against racism in Europe and World Cup shocks all feature on this week’s good, the bad and the ugly, our weekly review of the football news. Click on the links below to find out more about the stories.
Good
Finally UEFA are at least trying to do something about eliminating racism from football. They banned Spanish side Atletico Madrid from playing at home in two Champions League matches following racist chants by their fans at a recent Champions League game against French side Marseilles. Even though the decision was expected to be deferred and possibly overturned it is a step in the right direction, and about time too.
Bad
Talking of the World Cup qualifiers it was bad for Senegalese football as their team crashed out of the competition before the final group matches were even played. There were violent clashes amongst their own fans while the coach was also sacked – a far cry indeed from the glory days of 2002 when they reached the quarter finals of the World Cup in Japan (see picture above).
Ugly
Staying with the World Cup qualifiers, Italian fans misbehaved in their away draw at Bulgaria last weekend. Flag burning, Nazi symbols and salutes were on show in Sofia and though only a handful of fans were involved it was still pretty ugly. However, well done to the Italian FA after imposing a ban on selling tickets
