Determined to kick the menace of racism out of the game, UEFA has decided to conduct a probe into the allegations of racist slogans, apart from a fight in the players’ tunnel, after England’s match against Serbia in the European Under-21 Championship on Sunday.
England Football Association brought charges that their players were subjected to racism remarks by the Serbians during England’s 2-0 win in the match at Nijmegen, Netherlands.
The English authorities claimed that apart from the fans, at least one Serbian footballer was among the mob which hurled racial abuse at the English players.
Taking note of the incident, UEFA spokesman Rob Faulkner told Reuters that the disciplinary committee of the European governing body would consider the charges when it meets on July 12.
Faulkner said
We take racism and other forms of discriminatory behaviour extremely seriously and have asked UEFA to investigate these incidents as a matter of urgency.
We will of course co-operate fully with any investigation.
The result of the controversial match turned out to be inconsequential as both England and Serbia have qualified for the semifinals of the tournament.
