EURO QUALIFIER: England may be forced to play their next European Championship qualifier behind closed doors after UEFA yesterday charged the Football Association over racist abuse during last week's international against Turkey.

The FA had already been charged over pitch invasions during the 2-0 win by England, but now face the much more serious charge of racism by England supporters following an official complaint from the Turkish FA.

UEFA's disciplinary body have already punished Slovakia this season for racist abuse of England fans by making them play one game in an empty stadium.

A decision will be made on May 1st with England's match against, coincidentally, Slovakia at Middlesbrough's Riverside stadium the one which would be affected by any penalty.

The FA have until April 21st to submit their response to the charge.

UEFA's communications director Mike Lee maintained it was by no means automatic that England would receive the same punishment as Slovakia.

"I cannot make any predictions about this current case, but we do believe there is a serious case to answer," he said.

"You cannot compare cases, you have to deal with them individually, look at their track record, what occurred and whether it was inside or outside the stadium, and what was the scale of the incident and the nature of the offence."

Disciplinary proceedings have also been instigated against the Turkish FA for the improper conduct of players in the tunnel after the match and they will also be dealt with on May 1st.

There were 105 arrests by police in Sunderland, most of them taking place outside the ground. UEFA are, however, concerned with the abuse by England fans which included chants of "I would rather be a Paki than a Turk".

UEFA's decision comes after European football's governing body studied reports from the referee and match delegate and viewed television footage.

Slovakia were forced to play their match against Liechtenstein in an empty stadium after Emile Heskey and Ashley Cole were racially abused during England's match in Bratislava in October.

That abuse was certainly more ugly than the incidents at the Stadium of Light, but with the pitch invasions and the trouble in the players' tunnel afterwards, the FA are certainly sailing closer to the wind than they would like.

In their defence, they can point to the fact that they have led the way in Europe in combating racism in football, and that it is a first offence.

The World Youths Championship will now begin in November in the United Arab Emirates, FIFA confirmed yesterday.

The tournament, originally due to begin on March 25th, was postponed because of the threat of war in Iraq.

FIFA said the 24-team tournament would now take place from November 27th to December 13th after talks with Jack Warner, the chairman of the organising committee.