LIVERPOOL fear a stadium ban if Uefa get tough over the offensive Divock Origi banner which marred their Champions League victory over Genk.
The football body has already banned ALL fans at Wolves’ opponents Slovan Bratislava for their Europa League clash tonight in Slovakia following racist chanting.
And Liverpool fear Champions League sanctions over the racist banner, as Uefa await reports before launching an investigation into the sign.
The banner carried an image of Origi with a superimposed image on his genitals, promoting a racial stereotype associated with black men.
A Liverpool spokesman said: “We sought to have it removed as soon as we became aware.
“The banner is highly offensive and inappropriate. We condemn its use and we will look to identify those responsible for bringing it into the stadium.”
There have been growing calls for Uefa to start throwing clubs and countries out of competitions to try and eradicate the problem of racism.
Monetenegro were hit with a 20,000 euros fine and forced to play a qualifier behind closed doors after monkey chants were aimed at England players during a qualifier in March this year.
But, bizarrely, Uefa fined Denmark’s former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner around 80,000 for exposing a Paddy Power logo during a match in 2012.
What sort of message does that send to the racists?
Even more ridiculously, Uefa fined Turkish club Besiktas 30,000 after a cat wandered onto the pitch in the Champions League clash with Bayern Munich in March 2018.
Uefa has got tough with racism in the past, but has chosen to target grounds or teams rather than do something constructive to go to the cause and actually stop fans from committing racist behaviour.
Eastern Europe, Italy and Spain have been the worst for targeting black players.
Back in 2011, Bulgaria fans targeted England players Ashley Cole, Ashley Young and Theo Walcott.
They were fined 34,320.
Bulgaria has been the root of much of the problems.
In 2013, Levski Sofia fans unveiled a banner wishing happy birthday to Adolf Hitler, with supporters, including young children, making Nazi salutes.
The latest racist behaviour from Bulgaria fans came at their recent clash with England in the 2020 Euro qualifier, with Tyrone Mings targeted on his England debut.
Nine fans were arrested and some were banned by the Bulgarian FA.
In 2012, Portuguese club Porto were fined 16,700 after monkey chants were directed at former Manchester City star Mario Balotelli.
That same year, Spain were also hit with a 16, 137 fine for monkey chants aimed at Balotelli.
Also in 2012, the Russian FA were fined 24,203 after fans aimed monkey chants at Czech full-back Theodor Gebre.
In 2018 in Croatia, Dinamo Zagreb fans were punished for racist behaviour.
But these fines have started to rise and been accompanied by stadium bans.
In August 2018, Lyon were hit with fines of 85,500 and had to play two European games behind closed doors, one suspended for two years.
German club Hannover 96 took action by banning symbols in their stadium, with some racists fans carrying ‘HH’ logos, standing for Heil Hitler.
Last year, Mesut Ozil quit playing for Germany, citing racism.
Black players have been regularly abused in Italy’s Serie A, and even this season, Inter Milan’s former Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku, with an Italian TV pundit making one outrageous remark which saw him sacked by the broadcaster.
In 2012, former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure even suggested black players should boycott the 2014 World Cup due to the lack of action to stamp out racism.
Clearly the only way to stop these racists is by banning countries from World Cups and teams from Champions Leagues.
But Liverpool would argue that there case cannot be considered to that of the horrendous monkey chants aimed at black players in other parts of the world.
However, they will surely face a hefty fine for their fans’ ignorance.
