Sweden given win after ref attack

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Sweden have been awarded a 3-0 victory over Denmark after a fan ran onto the pitch and attempted to attack referee Herbert Fandel in the final minutes of the European Championship qualifier in Copenhagen last Saturday.

Fandel was rescued by Denmark defender Michael Gravgaard when the spectator came onto the field after the award of a penalty to Sweden with the score 3-3.

UEFA also imposed a 100.000 Swiss francs ($81,679) fine on the Danes, who must also play their next four home matches more than 250 kilometers from Copenhagen, with the next one, against Liechtenstein on September 12, behind closed doors.

The Danish federation said that they would appeal.

"We are talking about an unusually harsh sanction which goes beyond what one has seen in earlier UEFA disciplinary cases," said Jim Stjerne Hansen, secretary general of the Danish federation and a member of UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Body.

"Based on my 17 years experience in this business I believe there are good grounds to appeal this decision."

But Swedish Football Association chairman Lars-Ake Lagrell said the punishment was within the rules.

"When a match is abandoned it's a question of who is in charge," he told Reuters.

"That was not us, that was outside of our responsibilities. Denmark lost the result completely according to regulations."

The Parken stadium in Copenhagen is expected to lose approximately $3.2 million in income for all four games.

On Wednesday the federation suspended ticket sales for its next two European qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Spain, pending UEFA's decision.

The federation had already sold 18,200 tickets for the match against Liechtenstein, but said it would reimburse fans if UEFA changed the venue.

Stjerne Hansen said:"There are no UEFA-approved stadiums in Denmark that are located more than 250 kilometers away from the capital.

"It seems that they didn't look at the geography when they made their decision. Denmark is a small country.

"They might as well have told us to play abroad. Esbjerg is the only option more than 250 kilometers away, but it doesn't have appropriate security standards for international matches."

A seaside town of 70,000 on the west coast of Jutland, Esbjerg's first division soccer team plays in a stadium of 15,000 capacity, only about 5,000 of which can be seated. Standing room areas are not allowed at UEFA international matches.

Poulsen ban

Veteran Danish international Christian Poulsen, who conceded the late penalty and was shown the red card for punching Swede Markus Rosenberg in the stomach, received a three match suspension, which included the match against Latvia last Wednesday, from which he was omitted.

Denmark had staged a valiant fightback after going 3-0 down in the first-half and had drawn level when they conceded the penalty after Poulsen's foul.

Before the kick could be taken the spectator dashed onto the field and headed for the referee, who was protected by Danish players.

Fandel, who promptly abandoned the match, said he had been left in a state of shock for several minutes after the incident.

"It was clear very quickly that I had to stop the match in order to highlight the violence of the players and the spectators," said Fandel, who revealed that he had received apologies from several Danish football authorities including coach Morten Olsen.

The assailant was arrested by the security guards at the stadium, was released on Sunday and apologized in the Danish press on Monday, explaining that he had drunk between 15-18 beers on the day of the match.

"I still cannot quite believe what happened," he said.

"I am an idiot," added the supporter, who broke a finger when he punched a wall on hearing that the referee would be recommending awarding the match to Sweden as a result of what he had done.

The Danish federation intends to start a civil lawsuit against him.

Sweden now lead Group F with 18 points from seven matches, with Spain three points behind. Northern Ireland have 13 points from a game less than the top two.

Denmark trail in fourth place on 10 points from six matches.

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