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Turkish side Besiktas were charged by Uefa last week for allowing a cat to run on the pitch during Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 defeat against Bayern Munich.
The match was stopped in the second half when the feline jumped over the advertising hoardings, running to the corner flag and then leaping back into the stands.
Well, this is a fine piece of sports commentary if ever I’ve heard it. #bayern #ucl #besiktas #cats pic.twitter.com/aBFSQ2J72w
— Patrick Campbell (@PTcampbell) March 14, 2018
Uefa’s charge alleges “insufficient organisation,” along with two other charges issued to Besiktas relating to fan trouble (throwing of objects and blocked stairways).
Funnily enough, Uefa doesn’t have a specific charge for animals encroaching on the pitch...
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In Jose Fonte news, his Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang sacked manager Ma Lin after the team fell to a third straight defeat. Former Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster has been hired in his place according to Marca.
Things aren’t going so well in China for former Southampton captain Fonte, who also had a poor spell at West Ham United before moving to China to boost his hopes of featuring for Portugal in the upcoming 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Dalian Yifang’s 3-0 home defeat to Beijing Guoan followed a 2-0 loss to Guangzhou R&F and an 8-0 smashing by Shanghai East Asia.
That’s 13 goals conceded, zero goals scored.
Newly-promoted Dalian Yifang splashed out a reported £38million (as per Transfermarkt) to sign Fonte and Atletico Madrid duo Yannick Carrasco and Nicolas Gaitan.