Uefa warns England fans

Aigner has warned Uefa will not shrink from taking action

Uefa has confirmed it will not hesitate to throw England out of the European Championships if supporters cause trouble.

Outgoing Uefa chief executive Gerhard Aigner sounded the warning ahead of England's Euro 2004 qualifier in Turkey.

The Football Association has already refused its allocation of tickets for the match in an attempt to stop trouble-makers travelling.

Aigner was instrumental in imposing the ban on English clubs taking part in European competition following the 1985 Champions Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus.

Uefa's chief executive admitted the deaths of 39 Juventus supporters following a riot sparked by Liverpool fans, was the nadir of his 34 years in office.

If extreme measures are needed to protect people we are prepared to take the steps required

Uefa chief executive Gerhard Aigner

The Heysel Stadium disaster was the final straw for Uefa, who imposed a ban on English clubs taking part in European competition.

The ban eventually lasted five years and a similar punishment for the national team was perilously close to being imposed after fighting before the Euro 2000 encounter with Germany in Charleroi.

Uefa never considered a similar ban following Ugly crowd invasion scenes at the 2004 qualifier at Sunderland's Stadium of Light.

England fans invaded the pitch at Sunderland

Instead, the Football Association was fined £70,000, and England narrowly escaped having to play their next Euro 2004 match behind clsoed doors.

But any further incidences of violence over the next 12 months will almost certainly mean a ban for the national team.

Aigner said: "I really hope we never have to come to the kind of decision we made in 1985 where we banned teams from European competition.

"It is not the purpose of our work, but if extreme measures are needed to protect people we are prepared to take the steps required.

England escape ground closure

"We will have to work closely with the FA to contain the phenomenon of fans travelling without tickets, which can be very dangerous."

Aigner used the good behaviour of Celtic at in the Uefa Cup final as an example of what is expected.

He said: "The impeccable example of the Celtic fans in Seville last week proves it isn't always the case but it is something we have had problems with in the past."