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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
George Flood

Legia Warsaw fans unveil banner of Pope John Paul II before Europa League clash with Rangers at Ibrox

Legia Warsaw fans controversially appeared to unveil a banner of Pope John Paul II before their Europa League tie against Rangers at Ibrox.

The Polish Ekstraklasa side visited Glasgow on Thursday night looking to qualify for the group stages of Europe's secondary club competition after holding Steven Gerrard's men to a goalless draw in Warsaw last week.

Before the match got underway, a banner was unveiled in the away end at Ibrox featuring the face of the late Pope John Paul II - who was from Poland - behind one that read: "Be Not Afraid".

Part of the ground - close to 3,000 seats - was closed for the Europa League play-off second leg as punishment after sectarian songs were heard during Rangers' clash with St Joseph's of Gibraltar earlier in qualification.

Rangers announced on Wednesday that they had informed Uefa's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body that the club would not be requesting tickets for its next European away match, stating that they faced an additional Uefa charge of 'racist behaviour for sectarian singing' during the first leg against Legia Warsaw on August 22.

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