Norwegian club SK Brann said on Sunday they had won a victory for free speech with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling that they did not have to pay a fine imposed by UEFA after fans chanted “UEFA Mafia” and displayed banners with the same message.
European soccer governing body UEFA fined Brann 5,000 euros ($5,477.50) for “provocative messages of an offensive nature” at a women’s Champions League game and rejected an appeal by the club in March last year.
Brann were fined on another occasion as well and the club took the matter to the CAS which, they said, had agreed that UEFA’s rules “must be interpreted in light of fundamental human rights such as freedom of expression”.
“We are very pleased with the ruling from CAS,” Brann president Aslak Sverdrup said.
“It’s not every day a club from Norway moves all of football Europe but today we actually do. In a world where freedom of speech is under attack, this is an important and correct ruling.”
Brann said the decisions taken by UEFA’s disciplinary body and its internal appeals body had been set aside.
“CAS agrees that the use of the term ‘UEFA Mafia’ must be understood as a reference to UEFA as a closed group of people who exercise significant control over a specific area of society – that is, as a satirical and power-critical statement,” the club said in a statement.
“CAS agrees with Brann that this cannot be considered offensive or provocative, and therefore could not justify fines against Brann.”
Brann said UEFA had been ordered to pay the club’s legal costs and a full verdict was expected next week.
Reuters has approached UEFA for comment.
($1 = 0.9128 euros)
