UEFA order L. Poznan to halve ground capacity

UEFA have ordered Lech Poznan to halve their stadium capacity for their Europa League tie against Portuguese visitors Braga, citing a breach of security rules, the Polish club said yesterday.

“We received documents from UEFA requiring the club to limit ticket sales for Thursday’s game to 50 per cent of stadium capacity,” Lech’s spokeswoman Joanna Dzios told AFP.

The European football governing body also fined Lech €20,000 and ordered them to play one match behind closed doors – although the latter penalty was suspended for two years.

Lech said they would appeal against the ruling.

They were accused of failing to respect security rules during their previous Europa League home game against Juventus in December, which clinched them a berth in the last 32 of the competition.

UEFA took issue with problems at the ground’s exits, which were clogged by fans, as well as overly-narrow access areas to some stands and mistakes in seat numbering.

Playing today: Europa League, last 32 (first leg) – 18.00 Aris Saloniki vs Man. City.