Both Everton and Hajduk charged by UEFA

Both sides have been charged by UEFA after Hajduk Split supporters caused a delay in the Europa league match at Goodison on Thursday.

Everton fans have been charged with “Throwing of objects – Art. 16 (2) of the Disciplinary Regulations (DR)” while the away fans have four different charges including field invasion and acts of damages.

Photo by Marc Mueller/Bongarts/Getty Images

This will be the first issue Everton has had with UEFA on these grounds while Hajduk has had previous problems already in this very Europa campaign and also has a history of violent behaviour from their Ultras group.

Obviously, throwing things at opposing fans is absolutely not correct behaviour even when provoked, as the fans at Goodison seem to have been. Fortunately, the vast majority of our opponents do not have Hajduk’s unsavoury reputation.

What can we expect?

As RBM has already documented, Hajduk Split will probably see a stadium ban for their home leg of this tie. In addition, they will see fines and possibly other action as UEFA tries to rein in the out of control fans from this club who continue to be part of problems all over Europe.

The Croatian national team have come under similar sanctions as well after fans misbehaved during international matches.

Given the provocation involved, and Everton’s spotless history in this regard, a small fine and a warning is about all we are looking at here. We won’t see anything major come from this against us because there is no reason for that. There were no problems before Hajduk and there will be no problems after.

Thankfully, this is only a two-legged tie, and after we finish dispatching them they can stay in Croatia for the rest of the season and not be a bother to the rest of Europe anymore.