FA awaits confirmation of charges

30 October 2012 22:18

The Football Association is awaiting confirmation from Serbian police that two England Under-21 players have been charged following this month's controversial European Championship qualifier.

Reports on a number of Serbian media outlets have claimed that police in Krusevac, where the October 16 match took place, had charged 12 people including two unnamed England Under-21 players.

A further two officials from Stuart Pearce's backroom staff were also said to have been charged after the match erupted following the final whistle. The FA revealed in a statement on Tuesday night that it was, however, yet to be contacted by authorities in Serbia, saying only that they were taking advice from the British Government as well as UEFA.

"Further to the Serbian police announcement regarding charging English Under-21 players and staff, the Football Association can confirm it has not received any formal notification of any charges filed by the Serbian authorities," the statement read.

"We have not been made aware of any of the names of individuals connected with these charges and we therefore await further details and formal communication on these matters."

Players and officials from both teams clashed on the pitch after Connor Wickham's late goal secured England's passage to next year's finals. The unsavoury scenes were played out amid allegations of racist chanting from the stands directed at England Under-21 full-back Danny Rose.

"The FA reiterates its position of full support for all players and staff caught up in the appalling scenes in Serbia two weeks ago," the FA statement continued. "We want to reassure those concerned that we are committed to doing everything necessary to protect them whilst also offering support to individuals and their families."

In the days after the game UEFA charged both countries while the Football Association reported "a number of incidents of racism" to the governing body in a dossier of evidence including the video footage.

The Serbian football association's response was to hand down lengthy bans to two players and two officials following an internal investigation. Ognjen Mudrinski and Nikola Ninkovic, who clashed with Rose as the full-back attempted to leave the pitch, were given one-year suspensions while coaches Srdjan Maksimovic and Andreja Milutinovic were handed two-year bans.

The cases will be dealt with at a meeting of UEFA's control and disciplinary body on November 22.

Source: PA