Lithuania vs England: FA confident they will not face sanctions after crowd trouble in Vilnius

There were skirmishes between rival fans and home supporters also clashed with police as the Three Lions completed their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign with a tenth win in 10

The Football Association are confident they will not face Uefa sanctions after trouble broke out among supporters during England’s match with Lithuania at the LFF stadium. Their hosts, however, may face disciplinary action for failures in segregation.

There were two incidents early in England’s 3-0 victory. The first involved skirmishes between England fans and home supporters in an end designated for the latter. Riot police intervened and formed a barrier between the two groups. Then, after England went ahead, the home supporters reacted angrily to taunts from England fans and fought with police as they sought unsuccessfully to reach the visitors. It was notable that the police penned in the local fans, rather than the England supporters who did not attack the many Lithuanians left alongside them.

(@hirstclass / twitter)

Although there were reports of poor stewarding sending official England fans into this section most of the visiting supporters involved will have bought tickets directly, rather than through the FA’s England travel club. The official section for 850 travelling England fans was along one side of the stadium. There was no trouble in that area.

Geography and linguistic differences mean it should have been easy for the Lithuanian FA to prevent England fans buying tickets - except those bought them through a third party, such as a tout. FA measures include working with UK police who had a delegation in Lithuania.