Vieri cleared of racism charge
Friday, March 21, 2003
Article summary
UEFA has cleared Christian Vieri of allegations he made racist remarks to an opponent.
Article body
UEFA has cleared Internazionale FC striker Christian Vieri of allegations he made racist remarks to a Newcastle United FC opponent in the UEFA Champions League match at the San Siro on 11 March.
No witnesses
Newcastle made an official complaint to the UEFA delegate at the match, alleging that Vieri, who scored Inter's first goal in the 2-2 draw, had made comments to Lomana LuaLua two minutes before the end of the game. However, the the allegations made by the Newcastle player could not be established as there were no witnesses to the incident.
No further punishment
UEFA has decided not to punish AS Roma striker Francesco Totti any further for his red card in the Champions League visit to Arsenal FC on the same night. Totti - sent off in the 22nd minute after swinging an arm at Arsenal's Martin Keown - was suspended for Roma's match with AFC Ajax on Wednesday and UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Body deemed this automatic one-match ban was punishment enough.
Inter supporters
The disciplinary case opened against Inter for the improper conduct of their supporters in the above-mentioned game against Newcastle will be dealt with at a later date.
