Mafia link to shooting of fans as England scrape victory

The Slovak security guards responsible for shooting two English fans in Bratislava ahead of last night's Euro 2004 qualifier were probably employed by east European mafia, police said yesterday. As England scraped a 2-1 win, accompanied by skirmishes on the terraces, one fan was recovering in hospital after having a bullet removed from his neck.

The Slovak security guards responsible for shooting two English fans in Bratislava ahead of last night's Euro 2004 qualifier were probably employed by east European mafia, police said yesterday. As England scraped a 2-1 win, accompanied by skirmishes on the terraces, one fan was recovering in hospital after having a bullet removed from his neck.

Gareth Jones, 30, a van driver from Wyken, Coventry, had been shot in a bar just before midnight on Friday. Philip Holland, from Worcester, was wounded in the knee.

The National Criminal Intelligence Service, which tackles hooliganism, said most of Slovakia's bars were mafia-owned. "Security guards carry guns as a matter of course," an NCIS spokesman said. "They are burly and don't mess around. If things get out of hand, guns are drawn, and it does seem to have a concentrating effect." Another police source added: "Life is cheap out here."

England's victory relieved some of the pressure on Sven Goran Eriksson as he waited for a book by his former lover Ulrika Jonsson to be serialised in a tabloid newspaper today. In the event Ms Jonsson's autobiography turned out to be high in romantic detail but low in actual controversy.

Those Manchester United players on the pitch, such as David Beckham, may have been more concerned at the troubles of their club manager, Sir Alex Ferguson. Yesterday he issued a statement dismissing as "untrue" and "entirely without foundation" claims that he had indecently assaulted a young woman. Sir Alex had been in South Africa representing United, accompanied by his wife Cathy.

At the match, fighting broke out in the stadium shortly before half-time last night, when England were 1-0 down. Some visiting fans were seen trying to tear down metal fences separating them from the opposition; but tensions eased when Michael Owen scored twice to snatch victory.

The trouble in Bratislava that led to the shootings on Friday night began when about 60 fans refused to leave a club called Kelt and started pulling their own pints. "Police detained one person on the spot and are looking for two others," said Slovak policewoman Marta Bujnakova. "They found 16 shell cases and are investigating further."

There were other violent incidents in which guns were drawn and shots fired on Friday night. Trouble flared when 20 drunken fans were denied access to their hotel: security guards fired "two or three shots" according to police and one English supporter was pistol-whipped. A security guard was later arrested for urinating on an England fan. In Prague in the Czech Republic – from where many fans travelled on to Slovakia – 10 English supporters were arrested for "effectively trashing" a lap-dancing club to which they had been denied entry.

Around 4,000 supporters travelled to Slovakia with tickets for the game but another 2,000 were expected to attempt to buy them from touts. Border patrols were looking out for 1,200 convicted hooligans who had been banned from attending.

"People have taken shelter in bars this afternoon but their spirits have been well and truly dampened. Most minds were on the shooting," said a British police spokesman.

"The evidence was that it had been an unprovoked attack," said Kevin Miles of the Football Supporters' Federation. "We are talking about innocent victims, and it certainly does not offer any basis for concluding that there is a return to trouble among England fans. I have got to stress it is very much an isolated incident, the general atmosphere has been very relaxed and friendly."

Bouncers in Bratislavan bars were unlike anything they would have come across at home, he said. "There is an element here that we are not used to. If you go to any European city there is an element of the criminal underworld in the clubs. But the door staff here are not regulated, they are armed and there is a definite gangster influence."