England launch racism complaint against Serbia

The English Football Association has complained to European football's governing body UEFA following alleged racist abuse of one of its players during an under-21 fixture in Serbia.

Danny Rose, a midfielder on loan at English Premier League side Sunderland from Tottenham Hotspur, claims he was subjected to monkey chants before, during and after the second-leg of an Under-21 Euro 2013 playoff match on Tuesday, and had stones thrown at him by the crowd.

Rose was given a red card for kicking a ball into the stands after England scored a winning goal with the last kick of the match, sparking a mass brawl between both sets of players and staff.

Crime and punishment in sport: Laying down the law?

"The FA condemns both the scenes of racism and the confrontation at the final whistle during which time our players and staff were under extreme provocation," read a statement from the English game's governing body.

"The FA has reported a number of incidents of racism to UEFA following the fixture. These were seemingly aimed at a number of England's black players by the crowd. The matter is now with UEFA."

But in a statement on its website, the Serbian FA said it "absolutely refuses and denies that there were any occurrences of racism before and during the match at the stadium in Krusevac".

"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.

"Unfortunately, after the fourth minute of the additional time and the victory goal scored by the guest team, unpleasant scenes were seen on the pitch.

"And while most of the English team players celebrated the score, their player number three, Danny Rose, behaved in inappropriate, unsportsmanlike and vulgar manner towards the supporters on the stands at the stadium in Krusevac, and for that he was shown a red card."

During an U-21 match between the two countries in 2007, Serbia was fined £16,000 ($26,000) by UEFA for racial abuse directed at England defender Nedum Onouha.

In February 2011, UEFA president Michel Platini warned Serbia and its clubs that a ban on competing could be imposed if fans continued to cause trouble.

Platini is now under pressure to act on the alleged abuse, though UEFA has yet to issue a statement on the matter, while the organisation's account of the match on its website carried no mention of the widely reported racism.

Former England captain Rio Ferdinand used his official Twitter account to say: "Let's see if UEFA are serious or will they just treat this U21 incident as a minor....as they have before with their laughable punishments."

The punishments and fines UEFA has historically handed out for racism offences have been criticized by many observers.

UEFA to take action against Lazio

The Spanish and Russian football associations were fined €20,000 ($26,000) and €30,000 ($39,000) respectively for racism offences committed by fans at the recent Euro 2012 tournament held in Poland and Ukraine.

That contrasts with the $125,800 "ambush marketing" fine UEFA handed to Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner for displaying underwear which sported the name of a bookmaker during a goal celebration.

Next week UEFA, together with the organization Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE), is hosting a campaign to transmit "a clear and firm message that discrimination has no place in football", which will conveyed at Champions League and Europa League matches between Tuesday and Thursday.

"I think we should remind ourselves this is not the first time Serbia have faced such allegations," FARE executive director Piara Powar told CNN. "In fact, it is not the first time Serbia will have an investigation opened about their behavior at a home or an away game by UEFA."

Powar argued the problem in Serbia could be due to a lack of the ethnic diversity seen in other European countries.

"There is not the wider diversity which you see in a place like London, Berlin or Paris," continued FARE's exeuctive director. "I think people react to that lack of diversity during a football match.

"These are attitudes fans are carrying in their everyday lives and at a football match they somehow think it is acceptable to make those views public. I think UEFA will take a very hard line.

"It's easy to look at some of the punishments UEFA have issued to Eastern European clubs in recent seasons, but when it comes to Serbia and the context of this Platini warning, I think Serbia faces a very serious situation."