Tuesday, 16 October 2012

Paul Ince Calls for Serbian Ban

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Former England player Paul Ince has called for Serbia to be banned from tournament football for 10 years after England Under-21s qualified for Euro 2013 amid ugly scenes on Tuesday.

Fans ran onto the pitch and scuffles broke out after England won 1-0 in Krusevac to progress 2-0 on aggregate.

"As soon as the players were in the tunnel apparently there were issues. The Serbian conditioning coach was apparently jostling and getting his face in England players' faces. Jack Butland, the England goalkeeper, was peppered throughout the game with various objects thrown from the stands. Stuart Pearce had a seat thrown at him. Then at the end Danny Rose was racially abused."

"If it was me they [Serbia] would be kicked out for the next five tournaments," Ince told ESPN.

"It's disgraceful to see these scenes," added the former Liverpool and Manchester United midfielder, whose son Tom featured for England.

England defender Danny Rose, sent off after the final whistle in Serbia after kicking a football into the crowd, seemed to indicate he had been racially abused.

The FA said in a statement it "condemns both the scenes of racism and the confrontation at the final whistle during which time our players and staff were under extreme provocation".

It added: "The FA has reported a number of incidents of racism to Uefa following the fixture. These were seemingly aimed at a number of England black players by the crowd. The matter is now with Uefa."

England assistant coach Steve Wigley was manhandled by opposition players and staff after the game and manager Stuart Pearce told BBC Sport: "One or two of the technical staff from the opposition, and I don't include their manager in that, didn't cover themselves in glory on the pitch at the end.

"Punches, headbutts were thrown, and God knows what else. We will let the authorities deal with this at Uefa."

In 2007 the Serbian Football Federation was fined £16,000 at the Under-21 European Championships in Holland after their supporters racially abused England's Nedum Onouha.

Paul Ince admitted he had been worried for the safety of his 20-year-old son Tom, who plays for Blackpool.

"When your son's out there it's worrying," he added.

"You could just see if they [England] were to win or go through, it was getting more hostile.

"[Fifia boss] Sepp Blatter and [Uefa chief Michel] Platini need to look at this.

"If it was me they [Serbia] would be kicked out for the next five tournaments - European, World Cups - but they will get a little ban and that will be it.

"Things like that are not what we want to see in football - it takes it back to the dark ages."

Clarke Carlisle, an ambassador for the Kick It Out Campaign, said: "It's so disappointing to see things like this going on, the racial element and the pure physical violence, kicks and punches being thrown.

"These guys are supposed to be international players and conduct themselves accordingly."

Reading striker Jason Roberts took to Twitter to back Rose, who is on loan at Sunderland from Tottenham Hotspur.

"Well done Danny Rose. I stand right beside you," tweeted Roberts.

In another message, Roberts added: "We demand to be treated with respect. We are not asking. NOW, not tomorrow. I am fuming."


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