England and Turkey were given what amounted to a slap on the wrists by UEFA on Thursday following a halftime fracas between their players during their Euro 2004 qualifier in Istanbul on October 11.

The English Football Association were fined 10,000 Swiss francs ($7,553) by UEFA's Disciplinary Committee for their players' part in the tunnel melee.

The Turkish FA were fined 30,000 Swiss francs ($22,660) for the lack of order in the Sukru Saracoglu stadium in Istanbul where missiles were thrown during the game.

The Turkish FA were also cited, like England, for the "improper conduct" of its players, and additionally, for the behaviour of one of its security officers during the tunnel brawl.

UEFA's Disciplinary Committee reviewed video evidence of the incident and also dealt with the match reports of the referee Pierluigi Collina and the match observer as well as taking statements from both FAs.

No individual players were charged. Collina did not mention any specific players in his report.

LUNGING PLAYERS

Video pictures of the fracas, broadcast by TV channels in both Turkey and England, do not show actual punches being thrown.

After the melee Collina called England skipper David Beckham and Turkish defender Alpay Ozalan to his dressing room and told them both to calm down or else they would both be sent off.

Alpay had goaded Beckham after the Englishman missed a first-half penalty and two then clashed as they came off the pitch. Since then Alpay has had his contract cancelled by his English premier league club Aston Villa.

Although UEFA fined the Turkish FA, they had previously praised them for an excellent overall job on controlling a match that had the potential for producing extreme violence.

English fans were banned from the match and there were no major incidents surrounding the game. But flares were set off at the stadium and some missiles were thrown on the pitch.

The match ended in a 0-0 draw which saw England advance to the finals and Turkey go into the playoffs.

In response to the punishment the English FA said in a statement on Thursday: "We can confirm that coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will be speaking to senior players ahead of the next match against Denmark (on November 16) to remind the squad of their responsibilities and the need to maintain their generally high standards of behaviour."

The Turkish FA made no comment.

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