Villarreal pair escape bans for Europa League semi

Published Apr. 20, 2011 3:58 p.m. ET

foxsports

UEFA has fined Villarreal and its players Nilmar and Santi Cazorla after they appeared to get deliberate yellow cards in the Europa League quarterfinals.

However, UEFA's disciplinary panel declined to suspend the pair for the first leg of the team's semifinal against FC Porto on April 28.

UEFA says it fined Villarreal ?60,000 ($87,000) and the players ?20,000 ($29,000) each.

The Brazil forward and Spain midfielder were booked near the end of Villarreal's 5-1 victory over FC Twente.

They served bans activated by third yellow cards in the competition during the return leg as Villarreal easily advanced, giving them clean disciplinary records for the semifinal.