Readmitting English to Europe Soccer Matches ‘Suicidal’

The outgoing president of the European athletic federation said today that it would be “suicidal” to allow English clubs back into European soccer competitions without first getting crowd-control guarantees from the British government.

English clubs have been banned since the 1985 Heysel stadium disaster, when 39 fans were killed in riots at the European Champions’ Cup final in Brussels.

Georges addressed the issue of English clubs in his final speech at the federation’s 20th ordinary congress in Malta.

“If the new president feels assured, then he might propose to the executive committee that the (English) clubs be readmitted,” Georges said. “Until then it would be suicidal to allow them in. We must have guarantees.”