FA Launches Investigation Into West Ham-millwall Violence

The Football Association is speaking this morning with West Ham, Millwall, the Football League and the Metropolitan police as it begins to gather information relating to the violent scenes inside and outside Upton Park that marred last night's second-round Carling Cup tie at the Boleyn Ground.

A 44-year-old man is in a "stable" condition having been stabbed in the chest during clashes between supporters around Upton Park tube station before kick-off. A number of arrests were made and the police currently studying CCTV footage of the incidents in a bid to pinpoint troublemakers.

The FA will also scrutinize those pictures, as well as seeking reports on the violence that spread into the stadium later in the evening, with home supporters invading the pitch three times and missiles thrown between fans.

There are further allegations that Millwall fans subjected the England forward Carlton Cole to monkey chants just before his substitution in extra-time, and the game's authorities will seek clarification from the referee, Paul Taylor, on that issue. They will also gather reports from their own crowd control officer, who was in attendance, as well as both clubs' safety officers. Any fan found guilty of offenses faces a lifetime ban from attending football matches.

Both clubs also face potential sanction from the game's authorities, with West Ham hopeful their relatively good record in terms of trouble within Upton Park in recent seasons will count in their favor. However, while they are hopeful they will escape having to play behind closed doors, the possibility of a ground closure – whether a part or all of the stadium – remains, as does their expulsion from this season's Carling Cup.

More likely is a heavy fine, with the Premier League club's hierarchy holding a debriefing session this morning to determine whether the security measures implemented within the arena were adequate for the fixture.

Millwall are expected to release their own statement later today, though the game's authorities have been swift in condemning the violence. The sports minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, described the scenes as "a disgrace to football" and has backed the FA's call for life bans for those found to have been involved.

"We utterly deplore the violence that took place in last night's match," said Andy Williamson, the chief operating officer at the Football League under whose jurisdiction the game fell. "Such behaviour has no place within the game. We will work with the relevant authorities to ensure those behind it are held to count."

"We have to understand exactly what measures were put in place last night," said the Football Association's director of communications, Adrian Bevington.

"I'm not going to condemn West Ham or Millwall football clubs for any of their actions – certainly not at this stage, because we don't know exactly what's been put in place. And we know there have been huge efforts on the parts of all our clubs to try to eradicate the problems and we've had a history of success on that.

"However, we have to make sure that the individuals concerned face such tough actions that they can't go to football again. We all want a big atmosphere at matches – that's part of football, part of the passion. However, we also want to make sure it's a safe environment to watch games and we've just spent the best part of 20 years working towards that."

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents officers in London, said: "Simply banning individuals from football grounds would not, in our opinion, sufficiently reinforce the message that violence of the type seen last night will not be tolerated.

"Much better, we believe, would be to force the clubs to play matches behind closed gates or impose massive points deductions. At a time when public order policing is under the media spotlight, we hope that recognition is given to the bravery and professionalism of the officers who last night defied attacks on them to protect decent, honest fans and the public from despicable thugs hell-bent on violence."

Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters' Federation, is due to have a routine meeting with the FA's chief executive, Ian Watmore, later today and expects to discuss the violence. "It's not a good start to the season and it's important a full investigation is done, and the FA are going to do this with all parties to see exactly what caused this," said Clarke.

"But I think at this stage we must keep it in perspective. Certainly over the last 20 years the amount of football violence has radically reduced. It's too early, I think, to start drawing too many long-term conclusions, but obviously this was a very serious incident.

"I can assure you the vast majority of Millwall and West Ham supporters will be as horrified by events that occurred as everybody else. It's important to get to the bottom of it but too many hysterical overreactions don't help. I have a routine meeting with the FA chief executive today – I'm quite sure this will now be on the agenda. There clearly needs to be a very clear response to try to make sure this doesn't happen again. Part of the investigation would need to look at whether appropriate measures were put into place to deal with the situation."