Liverpool supporters criticised in UEFA study

BERNE, Switzerland, June 4 (Reuters) English Premier League side Liverpool's supporters have been branded the most troublesome in Europe, according to a report compiled from international police statistics.

European soccer's governing body UEFA said today it would be handing the study to UK sports minister Richard Caborn during a meeting in Brussels tomorrow.

''There have been over 25 incidents involving Liverpool supporters since 2003, some of them small, some more worrisome,'' UEFA spokesman William Gaillard told Reuters.

Gaillard insisted though that UEFA were not labelling Liverpool as Europe's worst club, since the statistic did not take into account the severity of the incidents.

While European soccer has been rocked by fatal cases of hooliganism this season involving French and Italian fans, Gaillard said the problems with Liverpool often involved supporters trying to enter stadiums without tickets.

''We cannot compare apples and oranges,'' Gaillard said.

''The problems with Liverpool have not been big enough to earn the club any sanctions from UEFA which means we are probably talking about a few small groups causing trouble outside of the stadiums.

''This is not about saying that Liverpool are the worst club. But we received this police report and thought it was a relevant time to pass on our concerns to the sports minister.'' REUTERS TB ND1430