2023-10-24 21:24:16
Football
Lithuanians punished for anti-Putin chants
The Lithuanian Football Federation received a fine of 10,000 euros from UEFA. The fault of his country’s fans, who made the mistake of singing against the Russian president.
PublishedOctober 24, 2023, 11:24 p.m.
Justas Lasickas against Serbia a few weeks ago.
IMAGO/MN Press Photo
The case dates back to last September. While Lithuania hosted Serbia – a Baltic country that is afraid of its Russian neighbor and another from the Balkans more in support of Moscow – in a qualifying match for Euro 2024 in Germany, fans of the Lithuanian team were heard singing “Putin huylo,” which basically means that the leader of Russia is actually a penis.
Against all expectations, a few weeks later, UEFA decided to punish the Lithuanian Federation for this refrain from the stands. The Lietuvos futbolo federacija (LFF), as they say there, will have to pay some 10,000 euros to the European association for the behavior of its fans.
Suffice it to say that around Vilnius and surrounding areas, this sanction made people cringe, and even laugh. It was not Justas Lasickas, a Lithuanian international (45 caps) who Instagrammed the opposite: “Keep singing! We will pay the fines with the bonuses we receive with the national team, if necessary.
This chant, first launched around Kharkiv, Ukraine, in the wake of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, has become almost habitual in the region, and not just in football stadiums. The LFF indicated that it had appealed the UEFA sentence.
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