French Ligue 1 club LOSC Lille has been ordered to pay a fine for organising a display featuring the French national hero, Joan of Arc.
Also on March 25, UEFA sanctioned Red Star Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda) over a large religious tifo featuring an Orthodox icon of Jesus Christ.
The French club was hit with a total of €82,750 in disciplinary fines by UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) during the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie against Aston Villa on March 12.
The most striking one specifically targeted a large tifo unveiled by home supporters in the North Stand (Tribune Nord) of the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. A ‘tifo’ is a flag or banner held up by fans during a match, from ‘tifosi’, which means a group of sports fans in Italian.
The offending tifo featured a depiction of Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc) holding a sword, accompanied by the slogans “Les Français ne meurent jamais” (“The French never die”), “Jeanne lève son épée et Lille continue de se battre” (“Joan raises her sword and Lille continues to fight”), and “Fiers. Forts. Féroces” (“Proud. Strong. Fierce”).
The tifo, created to rally support against the English visiting side, drew on the historical symbolism of Joan of Arc, France’s 15th-century heroine who fought English forces during the Hundred Years’ War.
French media described the tifo as an “immense” and “magnificent” homage to national history.
However, under Article 16(2)(e) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, the disciplinary body imposed a €17,500 fine for “transmitting a message that is not fit for a sports event”.
French local reporting noted UEFA, which campaigns against messages inciting hatred, deemed the display “inappropriate”.
The full list of sanctions, published in the CEDB’s decisions of March 25, 2026, gave several sanctions based on its regulations.
These included €26,000 for blocking public passageways, €25,000 for throwing of objects by home fans, €4,250 for lighting of fireworks inside the stadium, €17,500 for transmitting a message not fit for a sports event, and €10,000 for late kick-off.
The match itself ended 0-1 to Aston Villa. Lille were eliminated after the return leg in Birmingham.
Les Tifos gigantesques des supporters du LOSC pour leur choc face à Aston Villa 🔥
« French Never Die »
« Fiers. Forts. Féroces. »
« Jeanne raises the sword – Lille keeps fighting » #LOSCAVFC pic.twitter.com/KyAglKtl5L— Dounia Mesli (@Mesli_Dounia) March 12, 2026
UEFA also sanctioned Red Star Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda) for a religious tifo.
They received a total of €95,500 following fan incidents during their UEFA Europa League knockout match against LOSC Lille on February 26 at the Rajko Mitić Stadium.
This massive tifo was organised by the Delije Sever ultras group. It displayed a towering Orthodox Christian icon widely described as depicting Jesus Christ–though some Serbian sources also link it to Saint Simeon the Myrrh-flowing, whose feast day it was.
Below the image, supporters unfurled a banner in Serbian reading “May our faith lead you to victory” (“Neka naša vera vodi te do pobede”).
Here, UEFA imposed a €40,000 fine specifically for “transmitting a message that is not fit for a sports event” and “bringing the sport of football, and UEFA in particular, into disrepute”.
The remaining fines covered more typical stadium offences: Blocking passageways, throwing objects, and lighting fireworks.
These fines stand in stark contrast with the overt political actions UEFA itself takes, such as gay acceptance, anti-racism, and a push for so-called equality, diversity and inclusion.
You can't even pay for PR campaigns this good 🇷🇸 https://t.co/4RTc041Wzb
— Serbian Football (@SerbianFooty) March 29, 2026
