Juventus fined over kids’ abuse

Juventus have been fined after the schoolchildren they admitted to the stadium in seats usually occupied by banned ultra fans, were guilty of the same offence as their adult counterparts.

The Serie A club let over 12,00 children into their their stadium for Sunday’s match against Udinese but the children behaved little better than the ultras and Juve were fined €5,000 (£4,200) after they shouted abuse at the Udinese keeper Zeljko Brkic every time he took a goal-kick.

“Juventus were fined after their (very, very young) supporters repeatedly aimed an insulting chant at a player from the opposing team,” Serie A’s disciplinary panel said in a statement.

“I wanted to say something right after the game because it bothered me but I didn’t want to put any oil on the fire and I decided to stay quiet,” the Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin told Italian media.

“For a club such as Juventus where everything is beautiful, in particular where the stadium gives you the idea that you are not in Italy, it is really troublesome to hear those words every time the goalkeeper puts the ball into play.”