• Under-21 Championship qualifying

Serbia unrepentant amid racism claims

ESPN staff
October 17, 2012

Serbia Under-21 manager Aleksandar Jankovic has refused to apologise for the violent scenes at the end of his side's 1-0 defeat to England Under-21s on Tuesday, claiming both nations were at fault.

England booked their ticket to the 2013 European Under-21 Championships when a late Connor Wickham goal gave them a 2-0 victory on aggregate.

But the celebrations for Stuart Pearce's side were cut short after a scuffle involving players, coaching staff and supporters broke out. England's Danny Rose was sent off after the final whistle for kicking the ball into the stands after suffering racial abuse from the crowd.

Missiles were thrown at England players from the stands both during the match and after the final whistle, while England players were victims of racist chanting throughout the game.

The Football Association has confirmed it will be reporting the incident to UEFA , but Serbia will not apologise because they believe both sides have to take responsibility for the trouble.

"I do not see any reason to apologise for what happened," Jankovic told Mondo. "You know that you need two sides to have a fight, not just one.

"I did not see exactly what happened, but I repeat that you need two sides to fight. The match? England deserve to be at the finals, so I congratulate them on that."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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