Derry City given suspended partial stadium closure

Derry City have been given a suspended partial closure of Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium by Uefa.

The punishment follows trouble between rival supporters before and during the Candystripes' Europa League match against CSKA Sofia on 16 July, which caused police to be deployed at the stadium.

The game - which Tiernan Lynch's side lost 2-1 to exit the competition - was halted for 14 minutes as fans, including young children, spilled on to the pitch to avoid confrontations in the stands.

The partial stadium closure is suspended for a probationary period of two years.

Derry City have also been fined 20,000 euro (£17,000) over the incidents, while CSKA Sofia have been banned from bringing away supporters to their next European fixture, with a further one-game sanction suspended for two years.

The Bulgarian side have also been issued with fines totalling 55,000 euro (£47,000) and ordered to reach a settlement with City over damage caused to the stadium.

A statement from Derry City said the club had complained to Uefa over "the aggressive and intimidatory behaviour" of visiting supporters but "fully accepted" their own punishment.

"Derry City FC is committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure that home matches are played in an environment that is safe for players and supporters alike.

"An investigation is underway to identify those supporters of Derry City FC who were involved in these incidents and who ultimately caused the club to incur this fine. Once identified, the club will take appropriate steps to sanction these supporters, including the possibility of a lifetime ban from the McBride Stadium.

"Separately, CSKA Sofia has apologised to Derry City FC for the damage caused to the Ryan McBride Stadium by its supporters. CSKA Sofia has agreed to cover the cost of remediating this damage and Derry City FC is liaising with CSKA Sofia on this issue."

Derry return to European action on Thursday night (19:45 BST) when they travel to face Croatian side HNK Rijeka in the second qualifying round of the Conference League.