Football: England v Turkey

The Football Association have confirmed their decision not to take up tickets for England's Euro 2004 qualifier in Turkey and revealed that they are considering a similar move for the earlier game in Macedonia.
The FA had been worried about the safety of England fans at the qualifier in Turkey in October, due to the past instances of trouble between fans of the two countries, as well as the tension surrounding what will be the final game of the group.
Especially given the past behaviour of England fans on the road and the fact that Macedonia is a Muslim country, they have now also been forced to at least consider the situation for the game there in September in the wake of the war in Iraq.

I think this is a good idea what with last time,but it will be a hard game with a hostile crowd expected...

Apologies first to any Turks reading......
right now thats out the way

It amazes me that England can be blamed for the instances at the last international, Tugay who was actually representing his country on the pitch told Beckham he would die in Istanbul. Turkish fans started the trouble, our papers can only show pictures of English thugs though. I'm not saying we are saints, certainly not but wasn't this the country that actually killed two Leeds fans over a football match? Totally right to stop English fans going to the game for safety reasons only, I just pray that the players come out of it OK.

As you say Teflon our papers alway's seem to blame the english fan's,Im not saying we don't start any trouble but hey there are more than one set of fans..

As i said i think it is a good idea not to go their but why is it always our Fans/Supporters? Why not them and other countries..I suppose it is the tag we got from the late 70's early 80's as the worst Football Hooligans,As i was their in this period of football i can say that we were bad a$$es,but in todays football we are only the same as other countries..
As for the players i said earlier that it will be hostile i hope they come out in one piece..

The Football Association are seeking an urgent clarification from the Turkish football federation after reports claimed they are prepared to sell tickets to England fans for next month's Euro 2004 qualifier.

The FA repeated their determination not to take up their ticket allocation for the high-risk game, which will decide the outcome of the group.

However, Haluk Ulusoy, the president of the Turkish federation, was on Sunday quoted as effectively inviting England fans to travel to Istanbul for the match on October 11.

He reportedly told the News of the World: "Even if the English FA are not going to sell tickets and not going to bring fans over to Istanbul, we will do it for them.

"If there are fans who want to watch this game, they can come and get tickets from us. We will sell as many tickets to them as they want - 1,000, 2,000 or even 3,000.

"We can also give VIP seats out if they want them."

Given that many England fans will have read this article and it may spur more to travel in the hope of picking up a ticket, the FA are keen to check whether the position of the Turkish FA has changed that radically.

FA head of media Adrian Bevington said: "We will be discussing this with the Turkish federation over the next 24 hours to establish what their view is with regard to this article.