UEFA to investigate trouble at U-21 tournament

BERNE, June 18 (Reuters) European soccer's governing body UEFA will investigate reports of racist chanting and a fight in the players tunnel after England's 2-0 win over Serbia in the European Under-21 championship.

UEFA spokesman Rob Faulkner told Reuters today, that the incidents during and after the match in Nijmegen, Netherlands would be considered by UEFA's disciplinary committee at its next regular meeting on July 12.

Neither team faces sanctions during the tournament as it winds up on Saturday. Both England and Serbia qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament.

England's Football Association said today it had made a formal complaint to UEFA over the racist abuse directed at their players from Serbian fans and at least one member of the Serbian team in the tunnel after the match.

''We take racism and other forms of discriminatory behaviour extremely seriously and have asked UEFA to investigate these incidents as a matter of urgency,'' an FA spokesman said.

''We will of course co-operate fully with any investigation.'' The FA face questions over the incident involving their players after the match, while Serbia face charges over the behaviour of their players as well as the conduct of their supporters.

A message was issued over the public address system during the first half of the game after the referee brought the racist chanting to the attention of stadium officials.

REUTERS BJR RAI1846 t 13:05 06-18-07