Uefa to investigate Spurs football trouble

Uefa will launch an investigation after crowd trouble broke out during Thursday's Uefa Cup tie between Sevilla and Tottenham in Spain.
Riot police separated fans outside the ground before kick-off and during the match, trouble erupted in the enclosure housing 4,000 travelling Spurs fans.

Unconfirmed reports said seven Tottenham fans and one policeman had been taken to hospital.

A Uefa spokesman said: "Any incidents of crowd trouble will be investigated."

Tottenham have already pledged their full support to the authorities.

"Our initial reports suggest there was no fan-to-fan fighting at any stage of the proceedings," said a club statement.

"Tottenham supporters have enjoyed an exemplary reputation across Europe this season which is why tonight's events are unprecedented.

"We will be co-operating fully with Uefa, the British Embassy and the Spanish authorities to understand why this has happened."

The scenes followed violent clashes between fans and police in Manchester United's Champions League tie in Rome on Wednesday.

Less than half an hour into Thursday's game, trouble erupted in the enclosure housing the 4,000 Spurs supporters, where riot police were deployed.

Seats and punches were thrown as the the clashes continued during the half-time interval.

Tottenham boss Martin Jol said he had remained focused on events on the pitch - which saw Spurs lose the first leg 2-1.

"I don't know what started it but I had to focus on the game, and if you don't do that then you could lose your concentration," said the Dutchman.

"The only thing that I saw was that there was no separation between the two stands."

He added: "Of course it is a concern, but at first you have to look into it and then you can make your mind up.

"Yesterday we saw everything that happened, and I don't want to make a judgement on that.

"It's not always one-way traffic, you know what I mean?"