Scottish Premiership side Celtic has been fined €10,000 ($11,350) by UEFA "for the crowd disturbance" during its 4-3 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League in December. The Scottish champion was reprimanded by UEFA "after flares were set off and fans clashed with police at the away end during the game in Croatia" (REUTERS, 2/25). ... Romanian club Steaua Bucharest has been told by UEFA to play its next two home European matches "behind closed doors" following the racist behavior of its fans. It was also fined €20,000 ($22,700) for two further offenses: "setting off fireworks and use of a laser pointer" (BBC, 2/25). ... Egyptian authorities decided to allow football matches "to resume in closed stadiums without fans following a 40-day mourning period." Play "was suspended this month because of a deadly stampede of supporters in eastern Cairo" (AP, 2/25). ... A Tottenham fan "is to meet Premier League bosses on Thursday after more than 50,000 people signed his petition calling for clubs to pay their staff the living wage." Youth worker Joel Sharples, 25, "set up the petition on change.org last week and has secured a meeting" with the Premier League Head of Policy Bill Bush (PA, 2/25). ... The All India Football Federation and Japan FA signed a Memorandum of Understanding "to intensify the development process of the sport in both the countries." The MoU with the JFA "will enable India to seek help from Japan on technical matters." AIFF President Praful Patel said that many exchange programs by various age-group teams "will take place" (IANS, 2/24).
