Red Star Belgrade Basketball Club Fined After Crowd Trouble

Red Star Belgrade's basketball club have been fined and forced to play games behind closed doors after their fans made racist chants and caused trouble during a match, the Adriatic Basketball Association (ABA) announced on Friday

Belgrade, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Apr, 2019 ) :Red Star Belgrade's basketball club have been fined and forced to play games behind closed doors after their fans made racist chants and caused trouble during a match, the Adriatic Basketball Association (ABA) announced on Friday.

Buducnost Podgorica's Edwin Jackson wrote on Instagram he had been called a monkey and spat at by Red Star supporters in their game in Belgrade on Monday.

Red Star's victory gave them a 3-2 series win over outgoing champions Buducnost in the finals of the Adriatic League (ABA).

The Serbian side will play their next two fixtures in empty stadiums and their following three matched will only be open to female and child spectators.

They were handed a 82,500euros ($91,870) penalty "due to insufficient organisation, statements in the media that have damaged the image of ABA League and technical fouls," ABA said.

When asked if the sanctions were linked to the accusations of racist chants by the crowd, tournament director Kresimir Novosel told AFP: "It's for all the behaviour during these matches and so it's for that too." All of the five games in the final series were held in a tense atmosphere, with Red Star, who denied any racist behaviour, reporting similar abuse in Podgorica.

The ABA also fined the Montenegrin side 42,000 Euros ($45,700) for "insufficient organisation" and technical fouls during the final game.

Before Game 4 in Podgorica, home fans were also reported to have swarmed the court, spat on the Serbian players and hurled objects Red Star officials.