The Serbian Football Association president Tomislav Karadzic has apologised for his players' involvement in the ugly scenes at Tuesday's Under-21 match with England, but insisted they were not solely to blame.
Uefa has opened disciplinary proceedings over the "improper conduct" of both teams and the racist chanting by Serbian fans, hours after the Serbian FA had issued a blanket denial that the fans were involved in "any forms" of racism.
On Thursday Karadzic added to that statement, saying: "We witnessed ugly and inappropriate scenes after the match in Krusevac. I take this opportunity to once again apologise to all fans of football and the English FA's delegation. The incident saw a fight which included individual players and members of the coaching staffs from both teams. I have sent an apology on behalf of our association as we hosted the match, not that I think it was only our fault."
He added: "There was unacceptable behaviour from certain members of our team. Youth is not an excuse for foul and unsportsmanlike conduct and cannot be an excuse for individuals from the staff who clearly violated the rules.
"I am pleased that the members of the disciplinary committee met today and requested the necessary information."
Karadzic dismissed the notion that racism was a problem in Serbia. "The Serbian people have never been, nor will be racist," he said. "Our history testifies to this and the crowd's reaction to the defeat should not be confused with one of the greatest evils of the modern era.
"We have great confidence in the authorities and Uefa to implement the correct procedures."
The English FA has sent Uefa a full dossier of evidence, including video footage and a catalogue of incidents which it reported to match officials during and after the match.
The war of words following the game continued on Thursday, with the Serbia midfielder Nikola Ninkovic claiming the aggression he showed towards Danny 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 the abuse from the crowd. Ninkovic claims Rose was the instigator in the trouble, telling the 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."
Serbia's prime minister, Ivica Dacic, who is also the country's police chief, has ordered a police investigation into the events at the match but said it was too soon to call it a racist incident.
He said that all those who took part in the scuffles that broke out on the pitch after the final whistle must be identified and "brought to justice".
