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UEFA charges Kukesi and Legia Warsaw after abandoned game

Kukesi and Legia Warsaw have both been charged by UEFA after their Europa League qualifier on Thursday evening was abandoned because of crowd trouble.

Visitors Legia had just taken a 2-1 lead early in the second half when their midfielder Ondrej Duda was hit by a stone thrown from the crowd. Play was immediately suspended and was abandoned officially around 10 minutes later.

Both teams were charged over the throwing of objects by their fans, with hosts Kukesi also facing several other charges. The cases will be heard by UEFA's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on Monday, with the return leg scheduled for Thursday.

A statement listed the charges against the Albanian side as: "Match abandoned - Art. 24 of the UEFA Europa League regulations. Setting off/throwing of fireworks and/or objects - Art. 16 (2) (b) & (c) Disciplinary regulations (DR). Crowd disturbances - Art. 16 (2) (h) DR. Illicit banner - Art. 16 (2) (e) DR."

Legia, meanwhile, were charged with "Throwing of objects - Art. 16 (2) (c) DR".

The statement concluded: "This case will be dealt with by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body at its next meeting on Aug. 3."

Duda was taken off the field on a stretcher after the incident and had his head bandaged, but he was soon back on his feet and even changed his bloodied shirt in anticipation of a restart which never came.

Legia speculated on Twitter that the game "will probably be declared forfeit [by Kukesi]," but both teams will now have to await their fate.

It is the second consecutive season that Legia's European participation has been marked by controversy. They were thrown out of last season's Champions League for fielding an ineligible player during a 6-1 aggregate win over Scottish champions Celtic.