Rangers, Unirea fined over crowd trouble

BERNE (Reuters) - Scottish club Rangers have been fined for the trouble caused by their fans at last week's Champions League match against Unirea Urziceni in Romania, UEFA said on Thursday.

Rangers were fined 20,000 euros (17,936 pounds) by UEFA's disciplinary committee for "improper conduct" by their fans and ordered to pay for the damage to the Steaua stadium caused by their supporters, European soccer's governing body said.

Unirea were fined 8,000 euros for "lack of organisation" at the Group G match which ended 1-1

Both clubs have three days to appeal.

Television pictures showed Rangers fans clashing with police who used CS gas to try and control the situation. Some seats were also ripped up.

The game was played in Bucharest because Unirea's own stadium only holds 7,000 fans and does not meet UEFA requirements for Champions League matches.

Rangers officials said at the time that poor organisation of the match endangered their fans.

Last year, Rangers supporters were involved in trouble in Manchester where their team played Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Cup final.

(Reporting by Brian Homewood; Editing by Ken Ferris)