During 2013 European Championship qualifier between England and Siberia on October 16, there happened to be a clash between players, and it was said that there were some racial comments also passed by players of both sides. Since that matter was being investigated by the police, no accused was initially made. But now, after around 15 day’s investigations, police has charged 12 peoples included players of both sides for that mishap on the field. Two English Under-21 players are yet unknown, but Siberian police has already informed British police about such indictment. It started by throwing some missiles on the pitch by some host fans after English Connor Wickham scored the winning goal that made England beat Siberia by score 2-0. Host crowd could not accept their defeat; hence turned violent which later became a public clash between both the teams including their coaches.
Besides English players, five Siberian players and few fans are also named by the police for said incident. Since, reportedly, racial comments were passed on by both sides; UEFA is also investigating the claim to find the exact scenario on Dday. British Government over the issue issued a statement that read as, “Serbian police have announced that they have submitted charges against two England players and an assistant coach to the public prosecutor following an incident at the England-Serbia under-21 football match in Serbia earlier this month. We are investigating the full details of these charges before considering our response.”
While UEFA is investigating the matter, Serbian football association has already taken the initiative and imposed a lengthy ban on its two players (one year suspension) and two officials (two years suspension) for their reported involvement. Moreover, Siberian FA has refused to accept any racial comment’s charges as leveled by English players though it has issued an apology for such an event in a soccer match. On the other side, British FA has also issued a statement and said, “We have not been made aware of any of the names of individuals connected with these charges and we therefore await further details and formal communication on these matters. Meanwhile we are in contact with the British Government for advice, as well as speaking with our colleagues at UEFA. The FA reiterates its position of full support for all players and staff caught up in the appalling scenes in Serbia two weeks ago.”