Aston Villa’s appeal to overturn a suspended one-match ban on selling tickets to away supporters has been dismissed by UEFA.The Athletic reported on June 24 that Villa had been fined €10,000 (£8,625; $11,359) and handed a suspended one-match ban on selling tickets to away fans by UEFA after supporters displayed a “discriminatory banner” during the Europa League final against Freiburg in May.The ban, which would have applied to their first Champions League away game of the 2026-27 season, was suspended for a probationary period of two years.A UEFA source with knowledge of the situation, speaking anonymously as they weren’t authorised to do so publicly, told The Athletic the banner in question referenced the traveller community.UEFA rules dictate that “the match organiser, together with the police commander for the match and the safety and security officer, must prevent any provocative action being taken by spectators inside or in the immediate vicinity of the stadium (unacceptable levels of verbal provocation from spectators towards players or opposing fans, racist behaviour, provocative banners or flags, etc.)”.However, Villa appealed the punishment, with sources insisting the banner was not within the club’s allocation or located within its section of supporters. Villa, in their appeal, stated the banner was instead situated in a general zone, where UEFA, European football’s governing body, sold the tickets. Therefore, Villa’s frustration stems from the fact that the banner could not have been submitted on their flag list, and was not brought in by someone who had purchased tickets through the club. Rather, the banner had been allowed to enter the stadium which, sources close to the situation claim, shows an operational failure beyond Villa’s control.Although the banner did suggest the person with it was supporting Villa, they were sat in a neutral area of the stadium, so Villa were not able to identify the person responsible, the sources said.The subsequent evidence indicated the banner was identified towards the end of the first half and remained on display until the end of the match, yet Villa, within their appeal, stated that they were never informed that the banner was visible during the match, so therefore could not help with the swift removal of it.Under UEFA rules, in cases deemed “serious racist incidents”, match officials also have the ability to stop matches and request an announcement is played over the public address system to ask supporters to stop “racist behaviour”, which applies to banners as well as chants and insults.Villa deemed the punishment undeserved, believing the actions of one unidentified individual should not have ramifications for the club, which, in its view, carried out the correct safety measures. However, Villa had their appeal dismissed.Unai Emery’s side face Paris Saint-Germain in the Super Cup on Wednesday evening, having beaten Freiburg 3-0 to win the Europa League, their first European trophy in 44 years.UEFA declined to comment when approached by The Athletic.