Metalist Kharkiv fans came out to Rosa Luxemburg Square in Kharkiv on Monday to support their team ahead of the consideration by UEFA of the club's disciplinary case on Tuesday, August 13, an Interfax-Ukraine reporter has said. On Monday, August 12, a day before Metalist is to face a UEFA disciplinary panel, a week before the first leg play-off matches start, the unprecedented action of Metalist fans took place in Kharkiv, the home-city of Metalist. Nearly 10,000 fans went out to support their favourite football club. The action is aimed at preventing Metalist from being disqualified from European Championships, Champions League, in particular. Among the action's participants were veterans, sports officials, disabled people, children and officials, who are in charge of developing children's football in Ukraine. The main slogans of the action were "Champions League is our dream", "UEFA give us some respect", "Mr Platini, please, be merciful!" The fans emphasized the fact that the alleged match-fixing which threatens the Ukrainian club's participation in this season's Champions League took place nearly five years ago under the previous owner and management of the club. The current owner is doing everything to strengthen and develop Metalist as well as develop children's football. New football fields are being built, Metalist Children's Football Academy is constantly increasing its number of young talented football players. Banning Metalist from the Champions League would mean that children are deprived from the possibility of witnessing the great football and getting an example of what they should aspire to and what they might achieve. "We want to appeal to UEFA and ask it to allow Metalist to take part in the Champions League. Responsibility for match-fixing should be borne by those who organize it. And depriving the fans of such wonderful show as football games of such level is wrong," Chair of Metalist para-fan club Elena Shingareva. "If UEFA's urgent disciplinary action resulted in Metalist's disqualification, that would not only undermine the faith in sporting justice of the whole Kharkiv city which has been waiting so long to see its team in the Champion League but it will also seriously damage Ukrainian sports image as a whole," the action's participants said. On August 2, Metalist FC received the CAS verdict which could now force UEFA to disqualify Metalist from participating in the Champions League, though the event, upon which the verdict was pronounced, took place in 2008 under a different club management.