Barcelona report PSG to UEFA over chainsaw fan display

Barcelona have reported Paris Saint-Germain to UEFA, European football's governing body, over a huge fan display that showed a chainsaw attacking the Barcelona club badge.

The display was unfurled by PSG supporters before the teams met in Paris on Tuesday in the Champions League, the sport's biggest club competition. PSG won 4-2. Barcelona had won their first two matches in the competition before that defeat.

A tifo is a large, coordinated picture or banner that fans hold up or unfurl across a stand. This one showed a masked figure in a PSG shirt destroying the Barcelona crest. The chainsaw was shown covered in blood, and French words beneath it read "massacre, Parisian style". ESPN reported that the display was Halloween-themed, and a source told the network the imagery was "overly aggressive and offensive".

Barcelona's statement said the club strongly condemned the tifo, calling the images unacceptable. The club also condemned banners with explicit messages that were displayed during the match. In its statement, Barcelona said the imagery incites violence and hatred in sport.

BBC Sport reported that UEFA's disciplinary rules allow action against provocative messages that are unfit for a sports event. Under article 16 of those rules, a first offence can bring a fine of 10,000 euros, along with other measures.

The match went ahead while France was dealing with protests and unrest over police violence. Al Jazeera reported that PSG fans were divided over those protests, and the game was played as planned in the middle of that tension.

For supporters on both sides, the night was about more than the scoreline. A fan display is meant to lift a crowd, and a chainsaw image aimed at a rival badge is a different kind of message. Any penalty would come through UEFA's disciplinary process, and no decision has been announced yet.