In an unprecedented move, European soccer's ruling body, UEFA, last night threatened to expel England from the current Euro 2000 championships in Belgium and the Netherlands if English fans continued be involved in violent disturbances.
Speaking after a weekend when nearly 1,000 English fans had been arrested during violent disturbances both in Charleroi and Brussels, the UEFA president, Mr Lennart Johansson of Sweden, told a packed news conference in Liege last night that he "could not rule out" the expulsion of the English team if their fans continued to be involved in street violence and unruly behaviour:
The British government last night rejected UEFA criticism of its efforts to stop hooligans causing trouble at Euro 2000. The Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, will make a statement on the violence to the House of Commons today.
The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, who is attending an EU summit in Portugal, said last night that he hoped UEFA's threat would "bring to their senses anyone tempted to continue this mindless thuggery".
Most of the arrested English fans are expected to be repatriated within 12 hours of their detention, by Belgian military aircraft.
Mr Johansson told journalists: "This tournament has been characterised by lovely weather, by great football . . . and the behaviour of fans at all the stadia has been excellent . . . However, there are those who have not come here for the football and I think the world would expect UEFA to take a stand against them."
Recalling the infamous Heysel disaster when 39 people were killed prior to the European Champions Cup final between the English club Liverpool and the Italian side Juventus in Brussels in May 1985, Mr Johansson added: "We cannot forget what happened in this country . . . We cannot take on the responsibility for a situation in which people may be killed. We cannot stage a sports event if ordinary people are afraid to be out walking the streets".
UEFA's chief executive, Mr Gerhard Aigner, pointed an angry finger at the British government's failure to stop known troublemakers travelling to Belgium and Holland for the football championships, saying: "The UEFA executive committee has today called on the UK government and the English Football Association to take the necessary steps to stop English hooligans travelling abroad . . . These English hooligans are a disgrace to their country and a blight on the national game. Their actions over the last 48 hours have left a scar on the tournament and left us wondering why more was not done to prevent them from travelling . . .
"Other governments have shown that it can be done and we call on the UK government to take the necessary steps as a matter of urgency".
Mr Aigner's remarks about "other governments" was a reference to Germany, which stopped more than 3,000 fans travelling to Euro 2000. In contrast, the British Home Secretary had rejected calls that he implement similar measures, arguing that they would violate fundamental civil liberties.