GENEVA — Bulgaria was punished on Tuesday for the Nazi salutes and racist chanting of its soccer fans with an order to play a European Championship qualifying game in an empty stadium.
The punishment was criticized by anti-discrimination groups, who said it was too lenient. UEFA had the option to remove Bulgaria from the Euro 2020 playoffs in March, after the incidents in Sofia during a qualifier against England this month.
“We are disappointed that Bulgaria will not be expelled from the Euro 2020 qualifying competition given their previous record, and obvious inability to deal with the problems they face,” said the Fare group, UEFA’s anti-racism partner, which flags high-risk games for monitoring.