{"id":12436,"date":"2026-04-10T10:28:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T09:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/?p=12436"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:29:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T09:29:00","slug":"uefa-did-not-fine-crvena-zvezda-over-religious-tifo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/2026\/04\/10\/uefa-did-not-fine-crvena-zvezda-over-religious-tifo\/","title":{"rendered":"Uefa Did Not Fine Crvena Zvezda Over Religious Tifo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Original article<\/a> (in Slovenian) was published on 9\/4\/2026; Author: Antun Kataleni\u0107<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Serbian football club Crvena Zvezda was sanctioned for a series of violations, including chants directed at European football’s governing body.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Facebook page Slovenija Info Portal<\/em> claimed in a 30 March post that the Serbian football club Crvena Zvezda had been \u201cfined \u20ac95,500 after fans displayed a tifo featuring Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post claimed that the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) penalized the club because its supporters displayed a tifo depicting \u201cJesus Christ or Saint Simeon the Myrrh-streaming, accompanied by the slogan ‘Let our faith lead you to victory.\u2019\u201d The page commented that UEFA, under the leadership of President Aleksander \u010ceferin, a Slovenian, had \u201ccrossed a line \u2013 not quietly, but with a loud, arrogant message: we decide what you are allowed to think, believe, and show.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Serbian portal Fake News Traga\u010d<\/em><\/a>, like O\u0161tro<\/em> a member of the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN) and the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), found that the news regarding a UEFA fine for the aforementioned tifo had previously been reported by numerous Serbian media outlets, including the public broadcaster RTS<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fan choreography, or \u201ctifo\u201d as fans call it, depicted Saint Simeon the Myrrh-streaming, the portal further reported. This is the saintly title of Stefan Nemanja, one of the most significant figures in Serbian medieval history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As UEFA explained to Razkrinkavanje.si<\/em>, no sanctions were imposed on Crvena Zvezda for the tifo displayed during the Europa League match against the French club Lille on 26 February in Belgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, a fine of \u20ac40,000 was issued due to the “transmission of a message not fit for a sports event” and for “bringing the sport of football and UEFA in particular into disrepute.” In their initial written response to Razkrinkavanje.si<\/em>, they cited a banner reading “F*** UEFA” as the reason for the sanction. However, when requested to provide documentation confirming this, they stated that the penalty was in fact triggered by fans chanting “UEFA Mafia” after the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UEFA would not provide further details but announced that the full reasoned decision would be published on its website once it becomes final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The club must pay<\/a> a total of \u20ac95,500 due to a series of violations during the Belgrade match. In addition to the aforementioned fine, it received a \u20ac17,000 penalty for the use of fireworks, \u20ac10,500 for throwing objects onto the pitch, and \u20ac28,000 for blocking public passageways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have informed the administrator of the Slovenija Info Portal<\/em> page of our findings and will publish their response once we have received it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The claim that UEFA fined Crvena Zvezda because of a religious tifo is unfounded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Original article (in Slovenian) was published on 9\/4\/2026; Author: Antun Kataleni\u0107 The Serbian football club Crvena Zvezda was sanctioned for a series of violations, including chants directed at European football’s governing body. The Facebook page Slovenija Info Portal claimed in a 30 March post that the Serbian football club Crvena Zvezda had been \u201cfined \u20ac95,500 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":12437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[749,748,41,28,34,750],"class_list":["post-12436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-checks","tag-crvena-zvezda","tag-football","tag-religion","tag-serbia","tag-slovenia","tag-uefa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t