The Football Association is considering boycotting matches in Serbia, as pressure grows on Uefa to ban the country from international football over the racist abuse suffered by England's Under-21 players and the brawl that followed the final whistle.
Uefa last night confirmed it had opened disciplinary proceedings over the "improper conduct" of both teams and racist chanting by Serbian fans. But the governing body is likely to face renewed criticism over the fact the matter will not be considered until its disciplinary panel next meets on November 22.
As the Serbian FA said it "absolutely refuses and denies that there were any occurrences of racism", despite loud monkey noises being clearly audible at the final whistle, the country's prime minister Ivica Dacic, who is also Serbia's police chief, risked infuriating the situation further after reportedly claiming that all those who took part in scuffles on the pitch in Krusevac should be identified and "brought to justice".
The FA general secretary, Alex Horne, said the events of Tuesday night had led it to "question the validity of sending a team to Serbia in the future".
"We were shocked and appalled by the disgraceful events that occurred in Serbia," Horne said. "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."
On Wednesday night the FA presented a formal complaint to Uefa cataloguing "numerous instances of violence and abuse" Racist abuse was aimed at England's black players throughout the match, and was reported to the referee at half-time along with evidence of missiles being thrown, before reaching a climax at full time as the game dissolved into chaos following Connor Wickham's last-minute goal and the final whistle.
Danny Rose, the Tottenham full-back who is on loan at Sunderland, was sent off after eventually reacting to the abuse by kicking the ball into the crowd. The Serbian FA said his behaviour towards supporters was "inappropriate, unsportsmanlike and vulgar" but Rose said he had been targeted from the warm-up onwards. "The first half was no way near as bad as the second half. I had two stones hit me in the head when I went to get the ball for a throw-in. Every time I touched the ball I heard monkey chants," he said.
While apologising for the ugly scenes at the final whistle, when Serbian players and staff attacked their English opposite numbers, the Serbian FA denied there had been any racism. "Making connection between the seen incident – a fight between members of the two teams – and racism has absolutely no ground and we consider it to be a total malevolence," said the Serbian FA, which claimed the entire match had been played in a "sports atmosphere full of respecting fair play spirit".
The FA and sports minister Hugh Robertson have written to Uefa, which next week will feature anti-racism messages before Champions League ties as part of a "week of action", calling for the strongest possible sanctions. Players and anti-racism campaigners said that only a ban for Serbia would suffice.
Robertson said: "The scenes at the end of the game were disgraceful. I have written to Uefa president Michel Platini, in support of the FA, urging them to investigate immediately. Racism in any form is unacceptable and must be stamped out. We would expect tough sanctions from Uefa on anyone found guilty of racist abuse." The prime minister, David Cameron, was said to be "appalled" by the ugly scenes. "We are determined to stamp out racism internationally and at home and we are giving our full backing to the FA's complaint on this issue," said his spokesman.
The FA's complaint outlined in detail the racist chanting, which was heard in isolated pockets during the match before reaching a peak at the end, as well as the missiles hurled on to the pitch from the stands and unprovoked attacks on players and coaching staff at the final whistle. It is believed that the Uefa delegate was hit by a missile from the crowd during the match, and the goalkeeper Jack Butland was targeted by lighters, coins and seats thrown from the stands. The scenes at the end of the match were described as "unprecedented" by those present. The Serbian staff were unapologetic afterwards, apart from the former Aston Villa striker Savo Milosevic, present as a match delegate, who is believed to have apologised to the manager Stuart Pearce.
Lord Ouseley, the chair of Kick It Out, joined calls for "serial offenders" Serbia to be banned from international competition. "The fact Uefa has been so woefully weak in the past in administering punishments makes it easy to reoffend," he said. "The jury is out on Uefa's capacity and willingness to tackle racism on the scale necessary. If they don't do what is appropriate in this instance, everyone will lose confidence in Uefa."
Ouseley, who has spearheaded attempts to drive racism out of British football grounds, said that not only was Uefa imposing insufficient punishments but was failing to be "proactive" in working to change attitudes.
"Personally speaking, I think they have to take a stand and throw teams out of competitions. They have to take action against Serbia. It is a serial offender – it doesn't control its fans, its players or its officials," he said.
Clarke Carlisle, the chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association, also called for Serbia to be thrown out of international competition. Others, including Phil Neville, called on players to take matters into their own hands and leave the pitch when subjected to racist chanting.
In 2007, the Serbian FA was fined £16,500 following misconduct by fans and players in another European Under-21 Championship match against England. Serbian fans were heard making monkey chants at England's black players, leading the referee to hold up the match while an announcement was made over the stadium's public address system. Trouble then broke out between the two sets of players as they left the pitch, with the English FA later saying there had been further racist abuse from Serbian players. The issue is a sensitive one for Uefa, roundly criticised for its derisory fines after previous allegations of racism, which claims to have a "zero tolerance" policy on the matter. Following a meeting of its executive committee in December 2005 it said tackling racism was a "top priority" and recognised "that racism and discrimination have their roots in society but are often articulated through our sport".
