Shambles,

I can understand perfectly well that throwing England out of the competition would indeed be unfair on the England players and on the majority of people supporting the team. And I'm sure you're right that the whole controversy must have a negative effect on the team's performance.

But would it really be passing the buck to throw them out? If the English can't/won't sort the problem why should it be left to others?

Think of the town of Charleroi. A depressed place with 20 per cent unemployment trying to develop new industry to replace the old. Its delight at being included as a host venue and given a chance of positive publicity immediately turns to horror on learning that England will be playing there twice. Anticipation turns to apprehension. Extra security measures cost millions, never mind the damage caused. The population stays indoors for the weekend or gets the hell out of town. Nobody comes to visit.

Who should be responsible for this? Already this year there were vile happenings in Istanbul and Copenhagen. People in Belgium still haven't forgotten the 30+ deaths in the Heysel stadium. I haven't forgotten a match being stopped and abandoned in Dublin. The common factor in all cases was involvement of English fans.

Brendy above has a point. The tabloid press express the same sort of attitudes to England victories as the hooligans. The people we see on our screens causing this mayhem do not spring from a vacuum and the English need to take the problem more seriously. Meanwhile, if necessary the rest of Europe should be allowed get on with the party in peace.

By the way, LTS, I think the fans would go home if England were no longer involved. People tend not to book for fixed durations when going to events like this.

Arthur O'Malley