Motherwell have promised to take "firm action" against the supporter who threw a bottle at an official during their Europa Conference League defeat to Sligo Rovers.
Almost 7000 fans packed into Fir Park on Thursday night on a disappointing night for the Scottish Premiership side. Aidan Keena capitalised on a mistake from Bevis Mugabi to score, giving the Northern Irish side a 1-0 advantage to take into the second leg. Despite the result, the real talking point came off the park after a plastic bottle was aimed at an assistant referee during the clash.
The Steelmen have now confirmed that UEFA are investigation into the flashpoint as well as condemning the incident during a massive occasion for Graham Alexander 's side. A lengthy club statement from Motherwell read: "Despite the disappointment of the first-leg result against Sligo Rovers, we would like to place on record our sincere thanks to our supporters who turned out in great numbers for the match. The atmosphere, noise, and passion, particularly at the teams emerged from the tunnel, was amongst the best experienced in recent years.
"We know supporters went to great lengths to collectively raise money to add to the colour of the occasion, and backed the club fantastically by buying nearly 7,000 tickets – one of our highest attended European games in recent times. It is very much appreciated and all our focus is now on trying to win the second leg and progress to the third qualifying round.
We acknowledge and accept there were several issues relating to ticketing/seating in different parts of the ground, but particularly in the Phil O’Donnell stand. An internal review is now underway to try and identify why this has happened and what lessons can be learned, both in terms of ticketing and stewarding, at future matches.
"We have already identified a number of areas where we must and will improve. We accept our responsibility for what happened and sincerely apologise to anyone who was inconvenienced or caught up in any difficulty trying to locate the seats they were sold. It’s not good enough, but we will do better.
"We were also very disappointed at an incident which took place late in the game where a plastic bottle was thrown towards the assistant referee from the north end of the John Hunter Stand. Over the last few seasons there have been a couple of occasions where objects have been thrown onto the field of play at Fir Park. Our policy has always been to deal with individuals quietly and efficiently, and we have handed out indefinite bans to those who we have been able to identify.
"To put it into some context, we are talking about a very small number of flash points over a few seasons, and the overwhelming majority of ‘Well fans who follow the team are passionate, noisy and colourful, but do not overstep the mark by endangering players, officials or staff.
"The incident last night is now being investigated by UEFA and the likelihood is the club will be punished. We ourselves will work hard to identify the person responsible and will take firm action. It goes without saying, but throwing any objects onto the pitch is unacceptable at Fir Park or any other football stadium."
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