Sport 15-10-2003 England Players Hit Back Over Scrap who: Manchester United defender Gary Neville what: Says he is proud of England teammates after brawl where: Old Trafford, MANCHESTER when: Yesterday snippet: The Football Association is to counter the threat of disciplinary action against several England players by accusing Turkey "of deliberately inciting the trouble that flared at half-time of Saturday`s decisive Euro 2004 qualifying tie," says The Guardian as the row over the tunnel bust up burns on through the week. The latest version of events is that Turkish forward Hasan Sas "spat in in Ashley Cole`s face", and Emile Heskey came to the aid of his team-mate. Turkish manager Senol Günes has come under fire in his own country for failing once again to beat England, says The Times, but he still found time to blame the visitors for the brawl. "Alpay wasn`t responsible for what went on in the tunnel," he insisted. "Instead of attacking him, why don`t they attack Beckham or (Emile) Heskey? The English started that fight." As for Alpay, widely seen as the main aggressor on Saturday evening, he tells The Mirror that he and David Beckham were made to embrace one another by referee Collina "during a cooling off half-time chat." "He made us shake hands and hug," explained the Aston Villa defender. "He told us we were too hot and needed to calm down. He made us drink a glass of cold water before we could leave." But Alpay`s protestations may not be enough for English fans when he returns to his Birmingham club; The Telegraph reckons he will attempt to "escape English football in the January transfer window with a secretly negotiated move to Galatasaray." As for the Rio Ferdinand affair, The Times reports world governing body FIFA as saying it would step in "should it consider the FA`s sanctions on the Manchester United defender to be too lenient." This sounds like bad news for the Manchester United defender, who was hoping to get away with a fine for missing a drugs test last month. Writing in the Times, Ferdinand`s club and international team mate Gary Neville launches a scathing attack on the FA, saying that they "prejudged" Ferdinand and broke their own guidelines. "None of us condones drugs, none of us believes that drugs tests should be taken lightly," he writes, "but we also believe that Rio deserved our loyalty when he was hung out to dry before a trial." [... more]

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