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UEFA charge Turkey and England

October 27, 2003 21:07 IST
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The Turkish and English Football Associations were charged by UEFA on Monday for the clash between their players at halftime during their European Championship qualifier in Istanbul on October 11.

The charges will be considered by UEFA's Disciplinary Committee on Thursday (October 30).

The Turkish FA also faces an additional charge of failing to maintain order in the Sukru Saracoglu stadium where the match ended in a 0-0 draw, a result that was enough to see England qualify for next summer's finals.

UEFA have issued the charges after a review of video evidence, the match reports of the referee Pierluigi Collina and the match observer and after taking statements from both FAs. No individual players have been cited.

UEFA spokesman Mike Lee told Sky Sports: "On the basis of all the evidence available, the official reports, the statements from the FAs and the video evidence, it was felt there was not sufficient evidence against any particular individual player for violent conduct, therefore there are no charges against individual players.

"These are general charges relating to the two FAs for improper conduct of the players."

Asked if it was now up to the English and Turkish FAs to deal with players if they have an issue with them, Lee said:

"They have to deal first of all with the charges we have brought, which will be heard later this week.

"Whether the FAs wish to look at individual players that will be a matter for them because they will not be charged within UEFA's disciplinary process."

Lee said he expected the FAs to be fined if they were found guilty.

"It's not a matter for me to comment on or speculate but on the basis of all the evidence that has been seen, also considering the very important official reports we have, and also the limited number of previous cases relating to incidents in the tunnel, I think if they are found guilty we are looking at some sort of fine."

LUNGING PLAYERS

Video pictures of the fracas, broadcast by TV channels in both Turkey and England, were in some ways inconclusive in that they do not show actual punches being thrown.

However they do show England players Emile Heskey, Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell and David James lunging towards their opponents and arms being raised.

The pictures also show Turkish defender Bulent Korkmaz gesturing and Turkish goalkeeper Rustu Recber leading John Terry away from trouble.

Referee Collina is also clearly shown close to the incident while several officials are central to the action, trying to calm the situation down.

After the melee Collina called England skipper David Beckham and Turkish defender Alpay Ozalan to his dressing room and told them both to calm down or else they would both be sent off.

Alpay had goaded Beckham after the Englishman missed a first-half penalty and two then clashed as they came off the pitch.

Since then Alpay has had his contract cancelled by his English premier league club Aston Villa.

EXCELLENT JOB

Although UEFA have cited the Turkish FA for an additional charge, they have also praised the Turkish FA for an excellent overall job on controlling a match that had the potential for producing extreme violence.

English fans were banned from the match and there were no major incidents surrounding the game.

But flares were set off at the stadium and some missiles were thrown on the pitch so Turkey are likely to be fined additionally for those infringements of UEFA's rules.

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Source: REUTERS
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