Hooliganism Could Result in England’s Elimination
Spain might yet be a force at the European Championship, and England’s fans might cost their country a chance to complete the prestigious soccer tournament.
Spain defeated Slovenia, 2-1, Sunday at Amsterdam to rebound from a frustrating 1-0 opening loss to Norway in which a goalkeeping blunder cost the Spaniards the game. This time, Slovenia’s loss put it on the brink of elimination.
England, meanwhile, faces the prospect of being removed from the championships if the hooliganism continues.
“This cannot go on,” UEFA President Lennart Johansson said. “I hope that hooligans will understand what they are doing to their country.”
England Prime Minister Tony Blair, in Portugal for a European Union summit, said he hoped the UEFA threat would end the violence.
“Hopefully, this threat will bring to their senses anyone tempted to continue the mindless thuggery that has brought such shame to the country,” he said.
In another Group C game, Yugoslavia defeated Norway, 1-0, for its first victory at the European Championship in 16 years.
The violence stemming from the England-Germany game in Charleroi, Belgium, on Saturday prompted an emergency meeting of UEFA’s executive committee.
“UEFA will have to consider the future presence of the English team if there is any more violence,” said Gerhard Aigner, chief executive of the European soccer federation.
There were about 850 people being detained and 56 injuries in connection with the game. Police reported that most of the injuries were minor, but one English fan was stabbed in the back and was hospitalized.
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Guatemala routed Antigua and Barbuda, 8-1, and will open the semifinals of regional qualifying for the 2002 World Cup against the United States next month.
Hockey
The Minnesota Wild introduce former Montreal Canadien star Jacques Lemaire as its first coachat a news conference today. Lemaire coached the New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup championship in 1995.
Former Czech Republic Olympic coach Ivan Hlinka, who signed a three-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins in February, is expected to be named Penguin coach this week.
Miscellany
Toronto Raptor General Manager Glen Grunwald denied a New York Post report that the team has hired Lenny Wilkens as coach.
The U.S. team of Velizar Iliev, Chad Senior and James Gregory won the men’s title at the modern pentathlon world championships at Pesaro, Italy. The U.S. had a total of 15,867 points in the five disciplines--shooting, fencing, swimming, riding and running. Poland was second with 15,123 points and Sweden third with 14,295.
Russia’s Irina Mistyukevich ran the fastest women’s 800 meters in the world this year at the Znamensky Brothers Memorial IAAF meet at St. Petersburg, Russia. Mistyukevich was timed in 1 minute, 57.49 seconds.
Defending champion Tim Hogarth of Chatsworth shot a six-under-par 66 at Wilson Golf Course in Griffith Park to win the L.A. City men’s golf championship.
Due to a metric conversion error by meet organizers, The Associated Press reported erroneously on June 14 that Jeff Hartwig set an American pole vault record by clearing 19 feet, 9 1/2 inches. Hartwig cleared 6.03 meters or 19 feet, 9 1/4 inches, at a meet in Jonesboro, Ark.
