Uefa racist abuse rules explained: What punishment can Montenegro expect? Governing body announces investigation into abuse of England players with pressure growing to enforce harsh punishment by 16 May deadline

“It’s now time for the people that are in charge to put a real stamp on it. You can fine someone, but what’s that going to do?”

When Raheem Sterling, as a professional footballer, has no confidence in Uefa’s disciplinary approach to racism, it’s hard to see how it can seriously be expected to deter racist incidents in the stands. Sterling was speaking in the aftermath of England’s victory against Montenegro in Podgorica on Monday evening, which was tainted by a section of the home support directing racist chants towards Danny Rose and several other teammates.

“You’ve got to do something that’s going to really make them think twice,” Sterling told Sky Sports after the final whistle. “If their team can’t play with fans, it’s going to be difficult for them.

“I can only, we can only, the FA can only do so much. We’ve got to leave this to the people in charge to try to take a proper stance on it. Just banning one or two people is not going to change anything.”

Asked whether he’d like to see Montenegro contest games behind closed doors, he added: “Yeah. It’s got to be something serious for them and which makes them think twice about ever doing something like that again.”

What are Uefa’s disciplinary procedures?

While Uefa would no doubt claim they are serious about stamping out discrimination, their recent record of sanctions over racist incidents is less than impressive. Before moving onto that, however, it’s worth explaining how Uefa’s disciplinary system actually works.

Read more: England win in Montenegro overshadowed by racist abuse of Danny Rose and Raheem Sterling

On a basic level, Uefa has two disciplinary bodies. The first is the Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body, which hands down decisions on disciplinary infringements, and the second is the Appeals Body, which confirms, amends or revokes those decisions.

The Uefa disciplinary regulations form the basis of the Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body’s decisions.

Racism comes under Article 14 of the rules and regulations, which state:

If one or more of a member association or club’s supporters engage in the behaviour described in paragraph one [insulting the human dignity of a person or group of persons on whatever grounds, including skin colour, race, religion or ethnic origin], the member association or club responsible is punished with a minimum of a partial stadium closure. The following disciplinary measures apply in the event of recidivism: a) a second offence is punished with one match played behind closed doors and a fine of € 50,000 b) any subsequent offence is punished with more than one match behind closed doors, a stadium closure, the forfeiting of a match, the deduction of points and/or disqualification from the competition.

With Gareth Southgate confirming after the game that England would be reporting Montenegro to Uefa over the racial abuse directed at their players, the Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body have now opened an investigation as confirmed on their ‘Disciplinary updates’ bulletin board.

What is the likeliest punishment for Montenegro?

The likeliest sanction for Montenegro is a middling fine and the closure of a few stands at the Podgorica City Stadium. For comparison, after Greece fans were investigated for displaying a Nazi symbol during a Uefa Nations League match against Estonia in November, the punishment was a €10,000 fine, the closure of two gates at the Pancretion Stadium in Heraklion – where Greece were scheduled to host their next game – and an order for the Hellenic Football Federation to display a banner featuring the slogan #EqualGame along with the Uefa logo.

Read more: Uefa should make a stand and kick teams like Montenegro out of Euro 2020 for racist abuse

Likewise, Uefa’s response to racist banners and chants at a Nations League match between Romania and Serbia in October was to order the Romanian Football Federation, as hosts, to stump up a €50,000 fine and to play one match behind closed doors. Despite Uefa’s regulations making reference to “recidivism” this was actually a weaker sanction than Romania were handed for racist behaviour in the stands back in 2015, when they were fined a total of €110,000 and forced to play one of their Euro 2016 qualifiers in an empty stadium.

With the minimum punishment of a partial stadium closure often meaning little more than a few blocks of seats left empty, the effectiveness of Uefa’s disciplinary system has to be called into question. When token fines are handed out to wealthy national football associations, it is little wonder that Sterling and his fellow footballers have no confidence in Uefa to safeguard them from abuse.

The Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body will deal with the Montenegro game on 16 May.