Football Association charged over Lithuania v England crowd trouble
Wednesday 14 October 2015 13:01, UK
UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against England and Lithuania after crowd disturbances during Monday's European qualifier in Vilnius.
Scuffles broke out just before kick-off in an area behind one of the goals, but police quickly intervened.
England were allocated 850 tickets through their official travel club for the match, with those supporters located in a separate area of the stadium.
The stand in which the trouble occurred was one that England fans were advised not to buy tickets in, as it is where the local "ultras" would normally congregate.
The FA and Lithuania Football Federation are charged under Article 16(2) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations.
Lithuania have been separately charged over ticketing, under UEFA Article 37, and the blocking of stairways (Article 38).
The Football Association has released a brief statement insisting it will 'fully cooperate' with UEFA as it conducts its investigation into the trouble.
The statement read: "We were naturally concerned to witness scenes of disorder in Lithuania.
"However, we must be clear that these incidents did not happen within the official England Supporters Travel Club area, where supporters who had bought tickets from The FA were housed.
"We would encourage the authorities to identify anybody involved in disorder and deal with them appropriately through the criminal system and with banning orders. We will, of course, fully cooperate with UEFA."
The cases will be dealt with by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on October 22.
