UEFA have announced they have opened disciplinary proceedings against Spartak Moscow after Liverpool youngster Rhian Brewster was allegedly racially abused.

Liverpool made an official complaint to UEFA immediately after Wednesday's UEFA Youth League win over the Russian side.

Brewster immediately reported the incidents to referee Mohammed al-Hakim, having claimed to have been racially abused by a Spartak youngster - named by UEFA as Spartak's captain, Leonid Mironov.

Al-Hakim subsequently passed the details on to the fourth official, while England Under-17 hotshot Brewster had to be dragged away by team-mates and staff on the final whistle after confronting his abuser.

(Image: Propaganda)

Neither set of players shook hands at full-time and now UEFA have issued the following statement:

"Disciplinary proceedings have been opened following the UEFA Youth League group stage match between Liverpool FC Youth and FC Spartak Moskva Youth (2-0), played on 6 December in England.

"Charges against FC Spartak Moskva: • Racist behaviour - player Leonid Mironov – Article 14 of the Disciplinary Regulations

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"The case will be dealt with by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body with the date of the hearing yet to be confirmed."

Liverpool will urge UEFA to take serious action after a similar incident in the previous encounter between the same two youth sides in Moscow led to a minor punishment for the Russian club.

Anti-racism campaign group Kick It Out said it was "appalled" by the allegation and called for Uefa to show it was "serious" about tackling racial abuse.

"It is also extremely concerning to this organisation that yet another incident of racism has taken place involving a Russian club, particularly before the 2018 World Cup," the organisation added.

(Image: Liverpool FC)

Liverpool's Nigeria-born attacker Bobby Adekanye was subjected to racist chants from supporters of the Russian club at Spartak’s academy stadium.

However, UEFA saw fit to only partially close Spartak's Academy stadium (500 seats) for their following Youth League fixture.

Additionally, those empty seats had to be used to house a banner backing UEFA's anti-discrimination campaign.

Asked about the latest incident following his side's 2-0 victory, Gerrard said immediately after the game: "It's difficult for me to comment on it right now. It's something that the club will look into and deal with.

"I'd rather talk about Rhian Brewster's performance. I don't want to take any gloss off that because he was superb. The only thing that was missing from his performance was a goal. He held the ball up so well and put in a shift for us."

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

(Image: PA)

Another incident of racism will be hugely embarrassing for the Russian football authorities in the countdown to next summer’s World Cup finals.

As the host nation, they have already declared that they will not tolerate racism from supporters.

The fact Brewster was allegedly abused by a Russian player will create a major issue for UEFA, and how they aim to stamp out the issue in the game.