Serb Football Fans’ Racism Outrages England

Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday said he was "appalled" by reports of Serbian fan racism in Krusevac.

England U21 captain Jordan Henderson says players were racially abused and attacked by missile-throwing Serbian fans after qualifying for Euro 2013. Fans ran on to the pitch and scuffles broke out after England won 1-0 in Krusevac.

“There was a lot of racist abuse out there from the stands and a lot going on after the game,” he said. “There were also stones, coins and seats getting thrown at us,” he added. “What happened wasn't nice and is not called for in football.”

 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.

“I didn’t understand why Danny Rose was sent off at the end,” said Henderson. “I didn’t see he did anything wrong, other than get 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.”

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

Former England player Paul Ince has called for Serbia to be banned from tournament football and urged Uefa chief Michel Platini and Fifa president Sepp Blatter to act.

Clarke Carlisle, the Professional Footballers’ Association chairman, echoed the call for a long-term ban for the Serbs after what he described as “deplorable” scenes.

“Uefa need to make a standpoint here and more importantly Fifa, I feel, because it was a Fifa qualification tournament. The message has to come from the top down that this behaviour will not be tolerated,” he said.

Carlisle said only a lengthy ban would force Serbia to address the issue.

“What’s material is that the governing bodies lay down extremely harsh sanctions so that they deter countries and people from acting in this way,” he said.

“I believe Serbia should be banned because it's a repeat offence,” he added.

“Banning them for a start, from any tournament, would be progress but I think if it's significant – if it's a couple of tournaments – then that would cause that nation to address the issue that has deprived them of international competition.”