Uefa acts on racist claims

Uefa is to investigate another claim that players from English clubs have been racially abused on the same day the Football Association said it was seeking talks on the issue with football's European governing body.

Ipswich Town's Marcus Bent and Finidi George claim they were the subject of racial taunts at Thursday's Uefa Cup tie with FK Sartid in Yugoslavia. Bent, who scored the goal in Smederevo to seal an aggregate 2-1 first-round win, and George, a Nigerian, were targets of the abuse. Bent claimed after the game that he had heard racist chants from home fans.

"It was a hostile crowd. There was a lot of racist abuse, a lot of spitting when you went near the crowd," he said. "It was very upsetting. You could hear them doing monkey chants."

Sartid yesterday rejected the accusations. "If that is what Marcus Bent said, it is a blatant lie," the club's spokesman, Radoje Glisic, said. "The Ipswich football club and their fans got a great reception in Smederevo and were delighted with our hospitality."

Mike Lee, Uefa's communications director, said Ipswich had not made an official complaint, but the players' claims would be investigated and an outcome may be announced by Thursday

The FA is talking to Uefa about hosting a meeting, possibly early next year, of all the European associations to discuss the issue of racism and share ideas and solutions to the problem.

The FA confirmed yesterday that it is investigating Eyal Berkovic's "cut-throat" gesture to fans at Maine Road during Tuesday's Worthington Cup tie between Manchester City and Crewe Alexandra.

The Israeli international is also at the centre of a separate City inquiry following the incident during their 3-2 win, which is claimed caused a woman fan to burst into tears. The midfielder has so far failed to confirm the reason for his actions, which came after he had been denied a penalty and had allegedly been abused by the home fans.

The Manchester United winger Quinton Fortune continued his comeback from Achilles trouble, sustained in the World Cup, with a 70-minute appearance in Thursday night's Manchester Senior Cup 1-0 win over Manchester City at Altrincham.