UEFA has begun an investigation into the crowd trouble that marred last night’s England-Turkey Euro 2004 qualifier in Sunderland.

Supporters ran on to the pitch several times during the game at the Stadium of Light, which England won 2-0 and earlier there were several clashes between England fans and police.

“UEFA has the reports from the referee, where the referee has made mention of the incursions across the pitch,” UEFA’s director of communications Mike Lee said.

“We are still awaiting the report of the match delegate but a disciplinary investigation will now be opened to consider the events of last night’s game.”

Police made 95 arrests before and during the Group Seven game. Enmity between the countries has intensified since two Leeds fans were stabbed to death before the club’s meeting with Galatasaray in Istanbul.

UEFA has the power to force England to play their team’s next home qualifier behind closed doors, as was the case for Slovakia after their supporters were found guilty of chanting racist abuse when England played there last October.

Meanwhile, the English Football Association has condemned the behaviour of fans who chanted racist abuse and ran on to the pitch to celebrate England’s two goals and at the final whistle.

“We are concerned about instances of racist chanting which have been reported to the police and we strongly condemn such behaviour by any fans,” the FA’s director of marketing and communications, Paul Barber said.

“We are obviously very disappointed indeed that a small number of people allowed their celebrations to spill over on to the pitch,” he added.

“Their behaviour was unwise, unnecessary and totally unacceptable.

“Player and spectator safety is paramount at all times and we fully support the police in the actions they took to ensure that people stayed in their seats.

“We cannot tolerate fans invading the pitch and we expect those arrested to be dealt with by the courts.”

“The vast majority of fans from both England and Turkey behaved exceptionally well and enjoyed an excellent game of football,” he added.