Uefa charges both England and Serbia after racism row

The English Football Association have raised the prospect of a future boycott of matches in Serbia as a bitter row blew up over the alleged racist treatment of England’s Under 21 side.

The FA’s general secretary Alex Horne urged Uefa to take the strongest action against the Serbian FA and questioned whether England teams would play in the country again.

Uefa last night announced charges against both the Serbian FA and the English, for improper conduct of their players, and against the Serbs for “alleged racist chanting” by fans.

Danny Rose, the Tottenham Hotspur defender on loan at Sunderland, claims he was targeted by racist chanting during the match, but the Serbian FA issued a statement “absolutely” denying there was any racism at all and branding the England player’s behaviour “vulgar”.

The FA have sent Uefa a full dossier of evidence, including video footage and a catalogue of incidents which they reported to match officials during and after the match.

Horne said in a statement: “We were shocked and appalled by the disgraceful events that occurred in Serbia.

“Our players and staff were subjected to racial abuse, violence as well as missiles being thrown at them throughout the match. What occurred is inexcusable and not acceptable ... It is also clear that we must defend Danny Rose, who was sent off due to the frustration of being a target of racial abuse.

Uefa said in a statement: “Uefa has opened disciplinary proceedings against both the Football Association of Serbia [FSS] and England’s Football Association [FA] following a number of incidents during and after England’s 1-0 win over Serbia in the 2013 Uefa European Under 21 Championship play-off second leg at the Mladost Stadium in Krusevac on Tuesday 16 October 2012.”

The cases will be dealt with at a meeting of Uefa’s control and disciplinary body on November 22.