At Croatia's match against France, the Croat fans are alledged to have used racist chants whenver Sylvain Wiltord got the ball in their game. There were also Celtic crosses seen on tsome of the fans banners, apparently used by extreme right-wing groups in Croatia.

What action are UEFA planning to take against Croatia? (considering as this is the sort of thing that would more than likely have England removed from the tournament)

Let's hope "the lads" will keep their cool should the Croats try this sort of thing whenever Sol Campbell gets the ball, as I would not like us to lose out due to fucktarded reaxctions to other people's fucktardery.

I wouldn't've thought Campbell, Cole etc. will take a blind bit of notice.

1. I would imagine that any black sportsman who has grown up in Britain is used to such mistreatment would take this kind of shit in his stride.
2. The Croats could hang out NAZI flags and nothing would happen.
3. The England eleven will do their job and come through....They have up to now!

No Probs, Sol Campbell´s a diamond!!!!

PS. Still a good point about the UEFAs´ attitude to racisim and racial provocation.

the team wouldn't give a shit, it's the beered up spectators I'm bothered about...

the team wouldn't give a shit, it's the beered up spectators I'm bothered about...

You think England supporters are likely to be angry at displays of right-wing extremism?

Have you read the tabloids in the last twenty years?

Fair point tho Daz. Why is it that eastern European Teams get away with it? Just think Slovakia. Did anything ever happen about fines etc or was it just never reported?

Fair point tho Daz. Why is it that eastern European Teams get away with it? Just think Slovakia. Did anything ever happen about fines etc or was it just never reported?

I know, and this goes back to the issue on the England-Scotland thread* - England fans' bad behaviour will always be noticed before anyone else's.

I can't even find any news on this.


*Although I am aware that discussion of that topic is out-of-bounds on this thread and will not be discussed at length here unless it pertains to the topic.

I must admit that when a large amount of England fans were arrested, I thought "Oh no, not again", but having listened to the evidence of the fans and other people out there, it seems that as soon as any trouble was started, the Portugese Police simply lobbed the nearest England fans into the back of a van, gave them a kicking, chucked them into a cell for 15 hours and forced them to agree to be deported.

Many fans claim they were nowhere near any trouble.

I suppose it's our own fault for gaining the reputation in the first place, but it seems every time we go abroad the authorities use the English as a scapegoat for whatever trouble occurs.

No doubt Dazzla will feel my trust in the England fans is wrong...

No doubt Dazzla will feel my trust in the England fans is wrong...

No, not really.

England football fans (and not only football fans) tend towards raucousness at home and abroad, but the British police understand when a tipping-point between boisterous chanting and outright violence has been reached. This is not always the case with police in Europe, and further afield.

A similar thing happened at Heysel - Italians did not, at the time, have any experience of terrace 'charging'. They didn't understand that they were expected to charge back and tried to escape over the wall that collapsed and led to deaths and casuaties.

Now, you could interpret this in one of two ways - that foreign police should be more tolerant of British fans' behaviour and make themselves better able to unsderstand it, or that the British should learn how to behave appropriately in the countries that they visit.

Personally, I find myself drawn to the latter explanation, but it cannot be doubted (and I did state this with some force on the England-Scotland-violence thread) that police both here and abroad often act to inflame and antagnoise these situations.

You seem to forget, 10 Pence, that I am myself and England fan, and that I was accused on Friday of being one of the rioters, or at least symapthetic to them (although I suspect that Hugo was becoming desperate at this point).

ps: I know it's the Mirror, but...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/tm_objectid=14351537&method=full&siteid=50143&headline=croatian-warning--sorry--but-we-will-be-racist-name_page.html

I suspect it's a combination of those things, Dazzla. The Police in certain countries are a little happier with sticks than common sense, and the arrogant and aggressive tendancies of a good deal of travelling England fans after a few wife beaters does not make for a good mixture.

To me, the biggest shame is the obvious reporting of the arrests all over the world, to nations that cannot understand the history and the hype behind England fans. Unfortunately and unfairly, all Brits get tarred with the same brush.

Back to the topic in hand, is anything going to be done about it?

I very much doubt it. Whereas England can be thrown out of a tornament, just because the fans have the sheer cheek to get drunk and be beaten up by over zealous police, racist chanting, which arguably is far more damaging to the game as a whole, is usually punishable by fining the respective Football Association about £2.50.

Really? That's wrong. I hope our boys can rise above it and beat the fuck out the Croatias. I mean the footballers by the way.