PSV escape with fine for racist abuse of Henry

PSV Eindhoven have been fined just £13,000 by Uefa for the racist abuse and missile-throwing their spectators aimed at Arsenal striker Thierry Henry during a Champions' League match last month. Valencia and Hajduk Split, meanwhile, have been cleared of racist abuse during games with Liverpool and Fulham respectively.

FK Sartid of Yugoslavia, however, have been fined £10,700 for their fans' racist taunts towards Ipswich Town players in a Uefa Cup match and CSKA Sofia may yet be punished after evidence came to light of racist abuse during their game with Blackburn Rovers.

PSV can count themselves lucky as they have a previous record of crowd trouble and racist fans and under the rules of Uefa, the European game's governing body, could have been forced to play a game behind closed doors.

A statement from Uefa said: "PSV Eindhoven were fined... for the improper conduct of their supporters. The official reports did not mention these incidents and the Uefa Control and Disciplinary Body pointed out that Arsenal FC did not complain nor did they submit a statement or any evidence of the alleged racist behaviour of the Dutch supporters.

"The body also took into account the video evidence clearly showing that only a very small minority of individuals insulted the Arsenal FC player when reaching a decision."

Earlier this week, the Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein called for clubs whose fans are overtly racist to be forced to play games behind closed doors. He said Arsenal had left it up to the Uefa delegate to report the matter.

Regarding Valencia, Uefa's statement said: "None of the reports of the various officials, nor the television images showed any evidence of racist behaviour by their supporters."

In Hajduk Split's case – Fulham made an official complaint after the game – Uefa said: "The club have been cleared of charges of racism as there was no conclusive evidence available."

Meanwhile, the Dutch club FC Utrecht and Dynamo Tbilisi of Georgia have been ordered to play one match behind closed doors following serious crowd disturbances at a Uefa cup match. Utrecht fans also held up a racist banner. The Belgian club Bruges have also been fined £9,000 for racist abuse of a Lokomotiv Moscow player.

In other matters dealt with by Uefa, the Swiss side Basle were ordered to pay £13,000 after a smoke bomb interrupted their Champions' League match against Spartak Moscow.

Feyenoord, the Uefa Cup holders, have been fined £4,300 for unsporting abuse of a Juventus player during a Champions' League match and Hertha Berlin have been fined the same for unsporting loudspeaker announcements during a Uefa Cup match against Aberdeen. Hertha's Andreas Neuendorf has also been banned for four matches for head-butting an opponent.

Uefa has also sent a copy of their 10-point plan against racism, announced on Thursday, to those clubs whose grounds have seen racist behaviour during recent matches.

Feyenoord have denied allegations of tax fraud after Dutch authorities accused the club of deliberately failing to declare transfer fees on income tax returns in the 1990s.

The Rotterdam club said there was no substance to the allegations and rejected charges of any wrongdoing. It called on a court to throw out the case due to lack of evidence. "Feyenoord denies the allegations," a club spokesman said.