Turkish club Beşiktaş fined over cat on pitch

REUTERS

Turkish club Beşiktaş have been fined 34,000 euros ($40,120) by UEFA after a cat sneaked onto the pitch during the home leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie against Bayern Munich in March.

European soccer's governing body charged Beşiktaş with "insufficient organisation" after referee Michael Oliver had to stop play in the second half against Bayern when a cat slipped past security and onto the pitch.

The cat had leapt on an advertising hoarding before landing on the pitch and ran up and down the byline for a while before escaping back into the stands. (Click here for more photos of the cat)

UEFA said in a statement that Beşiktaş were also penalised for fans throwing objects and stairways being blocked at the Vodafone Park stadium in Istanbul.

German champions Bayern won the match 3-1 to go through to the quarter-finals with a 8-1 aggregate victory.