English football was hit by a double dose of shame last night as Paul Ince was handed an eight-month international ban and the Football Association were fined for racist chanting and hooliganism by supporters.

Ince had already incurred a one-match ban after being sent off in the opening Euro 2000 qualifying match in Sweden, forcing him to miss today's game against Bulgaria at Wembley.

And UEFA's disciplinary committee also ruled that the midfielder should serve a further two-match suspension for comments made to referee Pierluigi Collina on his way off the pitch. The Liverpool player will now miss England's trip to Luxembourg next Wednesday as well as the home game against Poland on March 27th.

And he will not be available for a competitive international match until the return fixture against Sweden on June 5th.

The FA then discovered that they had been fined a total of £27,000 by UEFA as well in the light of incidents off the pitch in Stockholm last month.