Partizan won't appeal UEFA Cup ban

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Partizan Belgrade are unlikely to appeal against their ban from the UEFA Cup, the Serbian first division club's deputy general secretary Gordan Petric said on Thursday.

"We will decide what to do over the next few days but appealing against the verdict may not be the smartest thing to do because UEFA may react by imposing even stronger repercussions," Petric told Belgrade's B 92 television.

"We really left no room to the UEFA Disciplinary Committee to be lenient because we had been punished in 25 of our 36 European matches in the last five years and we need to address the problem very seriously," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, UEFA took the most drastic action against a Serbian club to date, banning them from European competition for one year and fining them 50,000 Swiss francs ($41.259).

The penalty followed serious crowd trouble during Partizan's 6-1 win at Bosnian rivals Zrinjski Mostar in last week's UEFA Cup first qualifying round first leg.

UEFA said on its official website Partizan could appeal against the verdict within three days of the European governing body sending out the formal grounds for its decision. Subject to any such appeal, UEFA confirmed that Zrinjski would now progress to the second qualifying round.

Violence in last Thursday's match erupted early in the first half after rival fans clashed with police while pelting each other with rocks, flares and ripped-up seats.

Play was held up for 10 minutes and resumed only after the few riot police on duty managed to create a buffer zone between the 8,000 home fans and the visitors.

After the game, 36 people were injured and six arrested. Police used tear gas to separate the home fans from departing Partizan supporters.

Violence is rife in Serbian football and clubs well as the national team have been made to play their matches either behind closed doors or at neutral venues in recent times.

Serbia kicked off their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign in an empty stadium after trouble during their 2006 World Cup home qualifier against Bosnia. E-mail to a friend