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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;NYON, Switzerland (AP) \u2014 UEFA has given Russia a 3-0 win over Montenegro by forfeit after crowd violence forced a European Championship qualifying match to be stopped and later abandoned.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Montenegro must play its next home qualifier in an empty stadium and its football federation will pay a 50,000 euros fine ($54,000), UEFA's disciplinary panel ruled on Wednesday.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Russian federation was fined 25,000 euros ($27,000) for improper conduct by its supporters at the match played on March 27 in Podgorica. Both national federations accepted the ruling.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Still, UEFA did not activate sanctions deferred after several incidents of disorder by Russian fans at Euro 2012. Russia has been facing a three-match stadium closure order through the qualifying campaign.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Trouble started seconds after kickoff in Montenegro when Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev was struck in the head by a flare thrown from the stands behind his goal.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Play resumed after a 30-minute delay, and Akinfeev was taken to a hospital for treatment to neck and burns injuries.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The game was called off at 0-0 after 67 minutes when Russian player Dmitry Kombarov was hit by an object thrown from the stands.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Russia protested to UEFA and claimed the governing body's match delegate should not have allowed play to continue after Akinfeev was struck.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With the three points awarded by UEFA, Russia remains in third place in Group G, though now trails second-placed Sweden by only one point. Leader Austria is four points clear.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Montenegro will serve its one-match stadium closure when it hosts Liechtenstein on Sept. 5.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;UEFA deferred a second match sanction for a two-year probationary period.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"Taking everything into account, the decision of the Disciplinary Committee of UEFA is expected and the Football Association of Montenegro will not appeal\", the association's secretary-general Momir Djurdjevac said.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Djurdjevac said that Montenegro \"has a huge task to re-establish a good atmosphere in the stands.\"\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Russian Football Union president Nikolai Tolstykh told the R-Sport agency he was \"satisfied with the objective and fair decision\" made by UEFA.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The two teams will meet again in Russia on Oct. 12 in the final round of group matches.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Political tensions have flared between Russia and the former Yugoslav republic in recent months. Montenegro is a traditional ally of the Kremlin, yet decided to join U.S. and European Union sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Two Euro 2016 qualifiers have now been abandoned in Balkan countries and results decided by default.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Last year, Serbia vs. Albania was stopped after a drone carrying a political banner was flown into the stadium.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A Serbia player pulled the banner down and Albanian players tried to protect it. In the resulting disorder, Serbian fans attacked Albania players who refused to continue playing.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;UEFA punished both teams over the incident, awarding a 3-0 win to Serbia but also docking it three points.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Those sanctions are being appealed by both federations at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2015/04/08/russia-montenegro-euro-qualifier-akinfeev-flare>