Serbia want details from all involved in Danny Rose racism incident

Published on 19/10/2012 00:00

All Serbia’s players and staff involved in Tuesday night’s hugely controversial Uefa under-21 play-off against England have been asked to make formal statements.

The match, which England won 1-0 thanks to a last-minute goal from Connor Wickham to complete a 2-0 aggregate triumph, was marred by unsavoury scenes at the final whistle with scuffling on the pitch amid accusations of racism from the stands towards England left-back Danny Rose.

The Serbian federation (FSS) has announced its disciplinary committee held an extraordinary session this morning at which the request was made.

Uefa announced charges on Wednesday against both the FSS and the English Football Association for the improper conduct of their players, and against the Serbs for “alleged racist chanting” by fans.

The FSS has now revealed an internal investigation is also under way.

“In Belgrade today, there was an extraordinary session of the disciplinary committee of the Football Association of Serbia,” said the FSS in a statement. “It was decided to officially request statements from all the players and members of the professional staff of the under-21 Serbia national team who took part in the second leg of the play-off on 16 October in Krusevac. The deadline for submission of these statements is three days.

“The disciplinary committee will decide which individuals will be subject to disciplinary proceedings.”

The war of words which has erupted following the game continued with Serbia midfielder Nikola Ninkovic claiming the aggression he showed towards Rose was caused by his opponent’s “inappropriate gestures” towards the home supporters.

Rose was sent off after the game had ended for kicking the ball away in anger at what he perceived was racist abuse from the crowd. Ninkovic claims Rose was the instigator in the trouble, telling Serbian newspaper Novosti: “The guy three or four times made inappropriate gestures towards our fans. I was angered by his reaction so I rushed over to explain to him that he should not do that.

“I did not mean to hit him or insult him. I walked over to him and pushed him.

“A lot of his behaviour annoyed me but I know I was wrong and I know I will get a fine. I just hope it will not be too big.

“He received a red card and I got a yellow. That is probably an indication that his share of the story was significant.”