FA issued warning over Istanbul game
Uefa confirmed they will hold the Football Association responsible for any trouble involving England fans in Turkey in October - even if they do not to take up their ticket allocation for the game.
The FA's board are due to rubber-stamp the decision next week that they do not want up to 6,000 tickets for the match in a bid to stop fans travelling for a potentially fiery confrontation.
With a final warning now hanging over their heads for the trouble at the England v Turkey game in Sunderland last month, the FA will be dismayed to learn that they could be held accountable for any hooligans who travel to Istanbul anyway.
Uefa's communications director Mike Lee said: "We know there is a danger of ticketless fans travelling to Turkey but nonetheless the English FA and the English authorities have a responsibility here and that is why we want discussions with the police and security authorities to continue.
"They have to ensure there are no English fans in that ground."
Trouble in Turkey would have serious implications for England as Uefa's disciplinary panel would have little alternative but to enforce a ban on fans.
If England reach the Euro 2004 finals in Portugal next summer then European football leaders will remember the last championships in 2000 when the FA were threatened with expulsion over fans' violence.
The FA were fined a record £68,000 for racist abuse and pitch invasions during England's game against Turkey at Sunderland - something of a relief that they avoided being forced to play the game against Slovakia in Middlesbrough on June 11 behind closed doors.
