Man City skipper Vincent Kompany has criticised UEFA for launching an investigation against the club fans.

City were charged by the European governing body for "disruption of the competition anthem" after the club fans jeered the UEFA anthem before the home game against Sevilla.

The Belgium defender said: "It's a joke. We have played many games in Europe where there has been racial abuse and we have had to put up with it.

"And there have been times when we have been sanctioned in the same way as the team that was actually perpetrating those chants.

"In Moscow we weren't allowed to have any support inside the stadium. I don't see what our fans did wrong.

"I have experienced it as well when I was a kid playing at Anderlecht, certain games in Europe where you had a lot of racial abuse. So in that sense this is not justifiable - there is nothing holy about the Champions League anthem.

"UEFA can do what they want to do, but in the end if people feel it's the right thing to do, they have the right to do it. How else can they show their frustration and somehow have a voice that matters?

"The fact that we were given the sanction is actually drawing more attention to what they are trying to do. We support our fans."