| England and Serbia fined over racism row
The Football Association has been fined just over £2,000 by Uefa following trouble in the tunnel at the end of last month's European Under-21 Championship match between England and Serbia. The incidents followed a game that had been marred by racist chanting from some Serbia fans towards England's black players.
That abuse, coupled with a dispute over the legitimacy of England's second goal in their 2-0 win, led to a flare-up between the players, with some of the English team claiming Serbian players repeated the racist remarks shouted by the fans. Though the Serbian Football Federation has been fined £16,000 for "the racist chanting of supporters and the improper conduct of their players", the FA today expressed its dismay at also being punished.
"The FA is disappointed by the fine for improper conduct of players because we don't believe the England players were to blame for the incident," read a statement. "In our opinion they conducted themselves with great restraint in the face of provocation. We are also disappointed that Uefa rules prevent us from appealing against this decision."
Serbia's federation have three days to lodge an appeal against the decision. |