Player gets 10-match ban by UEFA

A player from Latvian club FK Ventspils has been handed a 10-match ban from European football for racist behaviour, UEFA announced yesterday.

Ukrainian goalkeeper Kostyantyn Makhnovskyi was found guilty of ‘racist behaviour’ during the second leg of his team’s Europa League preliminary-round tie against Maltese outfit Gzira United.

European football’s governing body UEFA did not provide details of the allegations against the 30-year-old.

Gzira’s Senegalese forward Amadou Samb was also given a two-game suspension for ‘insults’.

Samb and Makhnovskyi were both sent off in injury-time during the game in Ta’Qali on August 1.

Ventspils, who beat Gzira 6-2 on aggregate after a 2-2 second-leg draw, faced Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes in the first leg of the third preliminary round later yesterday.

Georgian club Dinamo Tbilisi were ordered to play their next European home game behind closed doors due to the “racist behaviour of their supporters” during the second qualifying round against Azerbaijan’s Qabala. Tbilisi, who play Feyenoord on Thursday, were also fined €50 000. –Reuters