How Zenit recovered damages in the amount of 10 000 euros from a fan
On February 21, 2020, the Borovichi district court of the Novgorod region of the Russian Federation issued a decision to recover 10,000 euros from a Zenit fan in favor of the football club. Never before has a Russian football club managed to recover such a large sum from a fan for violating the rules of spectator behavior.
On February 21, 2019, the official football match of the 1/16 final of the 2018-2019 UEFA Europa League between FC Zenit and FC Fenerbahce took place at the Gazprom Arena Stadium in Saint-Petersburg. At 61 minutes of the match, one of the spectators ran onto the field. Responsibility for this offense is provided for in part 1 of article 20.31 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation.
In violation of sub-paragraph "g" of article 5 of the rules of conduct for spectators during official competitions, a fan entered the playing field – an area not indicated in the entrance ticket or a document replacing it, access to which is restricted by the organizers of the sports competition.
By the resolution of the Petrograd district court of 18.03.2019, the fan was banned from visiting the venues of official sports competitions for a period of 6 months, and a fine was imposed. As a result of his violation at the match, Zenit was fined 10,000 euros by the decision of the UEFA control, ethics and discipline authority on 28 March 2019, based on article 16 (2) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations for the appearance of an outsider on the playing field.
In accordance with article 4.01 of the UEFA Europa League regulations for the 2018/2019 season, the club must confirm in writing that it, as well as its players and officials, undertake to comply with the Rules of the Game approved by the International Football Association Board, as well as the Statutes (including fair play principles defined by the Statutes), regulations, directives and decisions of UEFA.
The football club had video recordings of this act, which clearly showed that the fan had planned this action and was aware of its illegality. Zenit argued that imposing fines by UEFA on football clubs in breach of the rules of behaviour of spectators is an ordinary consequence of this fan’s activity. The fan knew about the possibility of imposing such a fine and could have anticipated it at the time of purchasing a ticket for the match. The amount of fines that can be imposed on the club for fan violations is public information, since the Disciplinary regulations are published on the official website of UEFA. Information about fines imposed on clubs for fan violations is regularly published on the UEFA website and in media.
Thus, the court satisfied the requirements of the Zenit football club. This decision is significant, because now fans know that if they violate the rules of behavior of spectators, they will bear not only administrative, but also civil liability, and should be ready to give a few thousand euros, not rubles.
You can read a text of the court decision here (in Russian): https://borovichsky--nvg.sudrf.ru/modules.php?name=sud_delo&srv_num=1&name_op=doc&number=21244713&delo_id=1540005&new=0&text_number=1
