By Andrew Warshaw
October 18 – British Sports Minister Hugh Robertson has written to UEFA President Michel Platini demanding “tough sanctions” against Serbia following allegations of provocation and racial abuse meted out to England players and officials during Tuesday’s (October 16) ill-tempered under-21 international.
England players complained they were constantly subjected to monkey chants throughout the game in the Serbian city of Kruševac.
After England’s 1-0 second leg playoff victory, which secured qualification for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, scuffles broke out between fans, players and coaching staff.
“A number of England players were subject to extreme provocation and racism,” Robertson wrote to Platini.
While England has been at the forefront of the campaign to eliminate racism from football, Serbia has a history of crowd trouble and has already incurred the wrath of Platini, who at one stage warned they could be banned from European competition for various misdemeanours.
Two years ago the senior team’s European Championship qualifying match in Italy came to a chaotic end after just seven minutes.
Serbian fans had been throwing flares both into the stands and on to the pitch and, fearful for the safety of the players, the referee abandoned the match.
Platini has frequently used the term “zero tolerance” but so far UEFA sanctions for racism have mainly been limited to fines for those responsible.
So strongly are the English taking Tuesday night’s disgraceful scenes that British Prime Minister David Cameron is said to be “appalled” by what happened.
“We are determined to stamp out racism overseas and at home and we are giving full backing to the FA’s complaint,” said Cameron’s spokesman.
“If we are going to stamp out racism from football then it is no good handing out derisory fines as has happened in the past.”
At the centre of the abuse was on-loan Sunderland fullback Danny Rose (pictured above, far right) who was sent off after the final whistle for kicking the ball away following apparent provocation, gesturing to the crowd that he was racially abused.
“The monkey chanting started long before I got sent off,” Rose told Sky Sports.
“After 60 minutes my head wasn’t really on the game.”
The Serbs took a different viewpoint over the stormy playoff fixture which ended with players, fans and coaches embroiled in an ugly fracas.
In a tit-for-tat statement, the Football Association of Serbia (FSS) denied that any racist abuse was hurled at England’s players and slammed Rose for “unsportsmanlike and vulgar” behaviour towards spectators.
It went on to criticise any attempt to link claims of racist abuse by English players to scuffles that broke out after the match as “malicious”.
As a result, UEFA has opened proceedings against both federations and set a date of November 22 for its control and disciplinary body to decide on what sanctions to impose.
“Regarding alleged racist chanting, UEFA will instigate proceedings against the Serbian Football Federation (FSS) over the misconduct of their supporters during and at the end of the match,” said a UEFA statement.
“Proceedings will also be instigated against the FSS for the improper conduct of the Serbia players at the end of the game.
“UEFA will also commence proceedings against the English FA for the improper conduct of the England players at the end of the match.”
In Belgrade, Serbia’s Prime Minister Ivica Dačić ordered a police probe, saying all those who took part in the scuffles must be identified and brought to justice.
In 2007, UEFA fined Serbia £16,000 (then $32,600) after its players and fans hurled racist abuse during another under-21 game against England.
The bitterness between the two nations was emphasised by their respective statements on yesterday, with the English threatening to withdraw sending teams to Serbia in future.
English Football Association general secretary Alex Horne said: “No football team should be asked to play in any environment where racial abuse, violence and threatening behaviour are prevalent.
“We must question the validity of sending a team to Serbia in the future.”
But Serbia captain Slobodan Medojević, not altogether convincingly, countered: “My teammates told me they were provoked by the gestures of the English players toward our fans at the stadium.
“I don’t think it’s only our fault for the incidents, but also of the English players…even if there were such chants, they could have been made by maximum five or six people.”
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