Uefa has said it will review the Champions League third qualifying round match between Lazio and Dinamo Bucharest on Tuesday, which ended 1-1 but was overshadowed by violence and racist chanting.
Five Romanians were injured in clashes with Lazio fans and one remains in hospital after being stabbed in the side. Inside the ground Lazio's notorious right-wing element chanted racist slogans before and during the game. The rest of the home fans tried to drown out the chanting by whistling and booing their own fans but Uefa has launched its inquiry and could, in the worst-case scenario, throw the Serie A side out of the tournament.
The ugly scenes in Rome came less than two weeks after Michel Platini, the president of the European governing body, said Uefa would employ zero tolerance on racism this season.
"We will be strong," he said. "We will not say, 'please don't do that'. We will not leave space for racism in football just like we will not tolerate fighting or violence. In the past, clubs have been fined and we have appealed because we thought that the fines were not enough."
Asked if clubs could be expelled from competitions, he said: "Why not?"
Before Tuesday's game Lazio's coach, Delio Rossi, pleaded with the fans to avoid the club getting into trouble but he was badly let down by the supporters and now faces an anxious wait for Uefa's verdict.
Meanwhile, Kieron Dyer was optimistic last night that his €8.5-million transfer to West Ham United had been resurrected after officials from the London club held discussions with their counterparts at Newcastle United. The England international wants to leave Tyneside to be nearer to his partner and two children in Suffolk and had appeared to have secured a move to West Ham.
Dyer had a medical at Upton Park and agreed personal terms only for the deal to fall apart at the last moment, when Newcastle, to West Ham's anger, hiked up the fee by €3 million.
Newcastle are resigned to cutting their losses on Dyer and in the absence of further offers from elsewhere have opted to go back to West Ham.
