English FA ready to stop fans going to Turkey

In the 2-1 victory at Slovakia, England fans clashed with local police and the home fans shouted racist abuse on the black players one the visitors’ lineup. UEFA, soccer’s European governing body, punished Slovakia by forcing it to play a game behind closed doors.

Now England faces the possibility of a similar punishment over its fans’ racist chanting when the team beat Turkey 2-0 at the Stadium of Light April 2. Sven-Goran Eriksson’s team next meets Slovakia June 11 and UEFA meets on Thursday to decide whether to impose a punishment.

If the FA says it will do all it can to stop racist fans traveling to Istanbul, then UEFA may take a lenient view.

News reports said that the FA likely will impose the ban after warnings from police that there could be serious trouble at the game in Istanbul if the fans aren’t prevented from traveling.

Reports said that the FA is about to launch a campaign at persuading ticketless fans from traveling to the game although that has proved almost impossible in the past.

Some fans, the reports say, will travel to Istanbul to seek revenge for the killings of two Leeds United supporters, who were stabbed to death before a UEFA Cup semifinal against Galatasaray in April 2000.

Before the home game at Sunderland, some 100 England fans were arrested after clashing with riot police and also trying to get at the visiting supporters.