Original article (in Serbian) was published on 31/3/2026; Author: Stefan Kosanović
Following the match between Red Star Belgrade and Lille in February this year, claims circulated on social media and in domestic media that the club had been fined €40,000 over a fan display featuring Saint Simeon. These claims are not accurate – UEFA imposed the fine for other violations, including a banner reading “F*** UEFA.”
Red Star Belgrade were eliminated in the Europa League in late February after a two-legged tie against Lille. The Serbian side won 1–0 in France but lost 2–0 at the “Rajko Mitić” stadium, allowing the French club to advance to the next round.
Public attention, perhaps even more than the result itself, was drawn to a choreographed display by Red Star supporters. As the feast day of their fan group, Delije Sever – Saint Simeon the Myrrh-streaming – fell on the day of the match, they chose to depict the saint in a stadium tifo. Beneath the image was the message: “May our faith lead you to victory.”
In the days following the match, posts garnering millions of views on social media, as well as numerous domestic and international media outlets, reported that UEFA had fined Red Star €40,000 specifically because of this display.
Photo: Articles related to this topic in the print editions of the daily newspapers Večernje novosti, Danas, Alo and Informer
“Red Star fined €95,500 over Saint Simeon, while Kaiserslautern not punished for invoking Lucifer,” reads a headline by Srpski ugao. “SHAME! RED STAR FINED OVER SAINT SIMEON: Fan choreography at the Lille match not to UEFA’s liking!” wrote Sport Srbija. “EUROPE IN UPROAR OVER SAINT SIMEON! Prominent politician slams UEFA, Greeks file complaint, satanism also mentioned!” reported Republika.
However, UEFA told Raskrikavanje that there was no sanction related to the choreography depicting Saint Simeon.
The governing body said Red Star were fined a total of €95,500 for several violations during the same match.
These included the use of pyrotechnics (€17,000), throwing objects (€10,500), blocking passageways in the stadium (€28,000), as well as a €40,000 fine that was wrongly linked in public to the choreography.
“This charge referred to a banner reading ‘F*** UEFA’,” UEFA’s media and public relations department told Raskrikavanje, explaining that the sanction was imposed for displaying an inappropriate message at a sporting event and for damaging the reputation of football, particularly UEFA.
Most Serbian media cited Spanish sports outlet Mundo Deportivo as the source of the inaccurate claim. The author of the article did not respond to Raskrikavanje’s request for comment regarding the disputed part of the text.
Photo: Some of the social media posts that garnered thousands and millions of views
We sought comment from Red Star Belgrade’s communications director Miljan Milošević on whether the club had responded to the spread of this inaccurate information, but he did not reply to our request.
Among the outlets that reported the incorrect claim are B92, Informer, Hotsport, 24sedam, Danas, Sport Klub, Hype, Objektiv, Novosti, RTS, Sportske vesti, Una, Nezavisne novine, Serbian Times, Srpska Cafe, Trebinje Live, Borba.me, Greek City Times, among others.
The claim was also picked up by Greek Member of the European Parliament Fragkos Emmanouil Fragkoulis, who wrote on X that he had asked the European Commissioner for Sport whether action would be taken over UEFA’s stance toward Orthodoxy.
“The selective application of rules clearly shows double standards. There can be no talk of neutrality if faith is not treated equally,” Fragkoulis wrote in a post on X, which has been viewed more than 200,000 times and includes the letter he sent.
Portals Kurir, Mondo and MaxBet also reported that the fine was not related to the Saint Simeon choreography, but stated that the disputed part of the sanction had been imposed for displaying a “flag featuring a map of Kosovo with the message ‘No Surrender’” and for chanting “UEFA mafia.”
While such actions could be considered violations, UEFA did not mention them in the response provided to our outlet.
Translated in English using AI tools, then thoughtfully refined by a human editor.
