St. Gallen risks heavy sanctions from UEFA

Badly beaten in Belgium for their reunion with the European Cup, the Brodeurs are already under sanctions after their supporters set off a giant fireworks display at the Jan Breydel stadium. This is reminiscent of what happened in Geneva during the match between Servette and Chelsea.

FC St. Gallen is officially back on the European scene. Eleven years he had been waiting for this. The Brodeurs began the league phase of the Conference League with a trip to Belgium on Thursday. A match against Cercle Bruges, deemed open on paper and which they could hope to win.

The Belgians were at the antepenultimate kick-off of the Pro League. They were preparing to host an ambitious St. Gallen team. Matthias Hüppi, president of the Eastern Switzerland club, declared before the meeting that he was not there to make up the numbers. He planned to score points in Bruges.

However, the return of FC Saint-Gall to the European Cup did not go as planned. The Brodeurs took on water in the Venice of the North and lost 6-2. The ordeal began in the 3rd minute when Alan Minda trapped Zigi and an overly apathetic defense from the kick-off. Saint-Gall, however, seemed to be playing at home in an almost empty Jan Breydel stadium, but populated by 1,500 Swiss supporters. Tickets for the visitor’s park were sold out in a short time, as no one in the green and white wanted to miss the start of this long-awaited campaign.

The St. Gall ultras set the mood ahead of the match in the streets of the Belgian city, then at the stadium, as soon as the two teams entered the pitch. Scarves brandished, they let out dozens of smoke bombs, which inevitably caused a cloud of smoke. Usual scenes to which UEFA has little taste.

But first, the party turned into a real nightmare when the goals went by and half-time was whistled with the score 3-0. Moment chosen by the Brodeurs supporters to get noticed, since they set off a huge fireworks display at the break, directed towards the pitch.

Was this a way of protesting the poor performance of Enrico Maaßen’s men? Given the chants sung at the same time and the pre-match celebrations, it would rather seem that the 3-0 at the break did not dampen the desire of FCSG fans to celebrate their return to Europe with dignity.

If this scene was greeted by the ultras of various countries, it went unnoticed beyond Sarine and shocked Spain and Portugal. Outraged, the famous media Mark headlined “The situation is getting worse” upon seeing these images. Cercle supporters are wondering. They wonder on the club forum how such artifices could have been introduced into their enclosure.

There is no doubt that UEFA will react to this incident. A heavy fine will most certainly be awarded to FC Saint-Gall. The club may also fear a travel ban for its supporters, or even closure. from the Ultras stand at Kybunpark during future Conference League matches. A total closed session, however, seems unlikely.

The Brodeurs will host Fiorentina in three weeks, then Hungarian club TSC Bačka Topola and Guimarães. They will travel again to Larne in Ireland and will go to Heidenheim in Germany. Penultimate in the standings, they will absolutely have to take points on these occasions if they want to continue their campaign next spring.

But back to this celebration. It is undeniably reminiscent of that of Servette FC during the reception of Chelsea at the end of August at the Stade de la Praille. A huge pyrotechnic show lit up the Geneva sky, under the amazed eyes of Cole Palmer. Servette was fined nearly 40,000 francs and will play its next European match without its North stand. We were only at the Conference League play-off stage.

These giant fires come after the publication of the ranking of the nations most penalized by fines, because of the behavior of certain supporters, during the group stage of the 2024 European Nations Championship. Fifth, Switzerland was one of the bad students , only ahead of Croatia, Albania, Serbia and Turkey.