Motherwell and Rangers have been fined by UEFA, with the Steelmen handed a €15,000 penalty after fans invaded the pitch to celebrate Tawanda Maswanhise’s penalty in their Conference League qualifier in Helsinki.
Motherwell will also need to pay another €4,000 penalty for blocking passageways at Fir Park in the second qualifying round win over HB Torshavn.
They have also been issued with a warning from European football’s governing body over a scoreboard infringement in the same tie against the Faeroese.
Scoreboard warning explained
A UEFA explanation stated: “The issue was that the scoreboard did not stop at min 45 and at min 90. According to the Article 51.03 of the competition regulations, stadium clocks may be used to show the amount of time played or remaining. Additional time in each half should be displayed as additional minutes, not continuously running time (i.e. 45 + x, 90 + y).”
Alfred Johansson’s side brushed HB aside 5-0 on aggregate before recording an impressive 3-1 aggregate success over HJK after a 1-1 first leg draw in Helsinki.
Play-off defeat leaves mountain to climb
Maswanhise opened the scoring from the spot in Finland leading to a surge of travelling fans onto the park before Teemu Pukki levelled.
Well progressed thanks to a 2-0 second leg win in Lanarkshire to set up a play-off showdown with Europa League runners-up Freiburg for a spot in the league phase.
But Thursday night’s 3-1 first leg defeat at Fir Park leaves them with a mountain to climb in Germany next week.
Rangers fined for kick-off delay
Rangers have also been fined by European football’s governing body due to a delay in kick off for the first leg of the Europa League qualifier against Jagiellonia Bialystock in Poland a fortnight ago.
The Ibrox club will have to pay €15,000 for the late kick off under article 11 (2)(h).
