Northern Ireland fans told to wait

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill celebrates Kyle Lafferty's goal against Greece. Picture by William Cherry/Presseye

Crowd trouble during Romania’s 1-1 draw with neighbours Hungary on October 11 is currently being investigated by UEFA.

Violence erupted before, during and after the highly charged clash at the National Arena.

Rival fans threw fireworks, missiles and smoke bombs, while property was damaged in the area.

The Romanian Football Federation will discover its punishment on Thursday, which could range from a financial fine to a partial or complete closure of their stadium for next month’s game with Group F leaders Northern Ireland.

The Amalgamation of Official NI Supporters’ Clubs (AONISC) chairman Gary McAllister last night said lobbying was under way to ensure that Northern Ireland’s fans were not punished.

“I have spoken to Irish FA president Jim Shaw on this. Jim is on the disciplinary group that is dealing with this matter so the IFA cannot lobby the committee,” McAllister said.

“But today I have been in contact with Football Supporters Europe (FSE) who are a Europe-wide organisation made up of over 3m members, and of which the Amalgamation is a member.

“They are recognised by UEFA and have agreed to lobby for us in advance of Thursday’s meeting.

“We don’t want to see the decent fans of Romania and Northern Ireland punished for the actions of a minority.

“There are a range of sanctions that could be imposed. There could be a fine or suspended penalty, or the stadium could be partially or completely closed to fans next month.

“We don’t want the game to be played behind closed doors, but we will have to wait to Thursday to find out.

“We don’t want to scaremonger, but we would advise anyone who has not yet organised travel arrangements to go to Romania next month to hold fire until after Thursday.”

Football Supporters Europe is the biggest democratic fan network in Europe.

The group worked with AONISC three years ago after UEFA ordered a Euro 2012 qualifier between Serbia and Northern Ireland to be played behind closed doors – it followed crowd trouble in a previous game involving Serbia and Italy.

Subsequent lobbying resulted in 200 Northern Ireland fans being allowed to attend the qualifier in Belgrade.

“FSE lobbied for us back then and we got a positive outcome,” McAllister added.

“This is Romania’s first offence, so next month’s game may escape any hefty sanctions.

“We just feel it is better to take some action now, rather than wait until after the decision is made on Thursday.

“Like I said, we don’t want to scaremonger. There are a range of sanctions that can be imposed.

“Hopefully all decent fans won’t be punished over this. It is a big game and a good atmosphere would add to the occasion.”