Fears grow English will travel

Euro 2004 Qualifying News round-up: I could have grabbed a coffee and flicked through a magazine when I bought two tickets for the England-Turkey match in a shop in the city centre. But I had other things to do.

The process took just under five minutes and cost around 75.

There is much talk of the black market, ticket touts and collusion between the Turkish Football Federation and England fans hungry for tickets for the critical Euro 2004 qualifier denied them by the Football Association in England.

But no enterprising fan - or hardcore hooligan set on trouble - needs the assistance of the federation if they want a ticket.

Tickets for the big game here on October 11th are available over the internet from one of the country's biggest entertainment websites.

But, simpler than that, is a quick bit of real, rather than virtual, shopping. The same online site has ticket desks in shops across Istanbul. Their addresses are helpfully provided on the Internet.

I went to Istiklal Street, Istanbul's busiest thoroughfare. Trams from the first half of the last century rumble up and down the middle of this retail and tourism centre.

At the till of Ada, a music and book store, a cashier stood behind a pile of shiny paperbacks. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is still selling well.

Tickets were sold downstairs, I was told. In the basement at another till I bought my two tickets - 57,500,000 Turkish lire (just under a ticket). I used a Turkish credit card and gave a Turkish mobile phone number, but, when I asked, I was told they could have both been British.

A tiny bit of Turkish helped, but on Istiklal Street they are used to foreigners raising their voices and gesticulating when they want things. The cashier who sold me the tickets said there was nothing to stop England fans, or friends, or touts buying them.

But she did say police would be at the stadium checking identification. Foreigners would not be allowed in. Outside the shop, a Turkish friend asked me if I would go to the match.

I said not, explaining the police checking identification. My friend laughed. The Turkish federation may be placing a little too much faith in Istanbul's finest.

Back in England, the FA's decision to reject its ticket allocation for the game at Suku Saracoglu Stadium has drastically reduced English fans' chances of buying a ticket on home soil.Ticket agencies were at best suggesting supporters travel to Istanbul and buy direct from Turkish touts.

Tickets are available from the Turkish Football Federation and can be ordered via its website, providing fans can prove they are Turkish citizens with a Turkish address."We will not sell any tickets to England fans, it is not worth them coming," a federation spokesman promised.

The English FA yesterday condemned the decision of England fans to defy advice and travel to Saturday's European Championship qualifier against Macedonia.

They also expressed fears that a similar breakdown of security arrangements at next month's game in Turkey could lead to England being thrown out of the competition.

"We were disappointed to see several hundred England supporters in Skopje," said an FA spokesman. "Inevitably, the presence of England supporters in a stadium with no planned segregation led to a number of incidents in various parts of the ground.

"The next 30 days are extremely important for England and it is vital that our remaining two qualifiers are played without incident."

The FA also confirmed that a report has been sent to UEFA detailing the incidents of racial abuse directed towards England's black players on Saturday.

The Macedonian FA have issued an unreserved apology for the abuse along with the burning of the flag of St George, although claims that threatening comments made by home players towards their English opponents, most notably David Beckham, were strenuously denied.

Meanwhile, England have suffered a double setback with Rio Ferdinand and Nicky Butt both forced to withdraw from tomorrow's Euro qualifier with Liechtenstein at Old Trafford through injury.

Butt played in Macedonia in Saturday's 2-1 success but has an ongoing ankle problem and will not be fit for the game on his home ground.

Ferdinand missed the game in Skopje with a kidney complaint and it has not recovered sufficiently for him to be considered against the Group Seven whipping boys.