THE RUC said yesterday inquiries were continuing and charges would be brought where possible following serious disturbances outside a football ground in Portadown, Co Armagh, on Saturday.
Two busloads of Cliftonville supporters were attacked by loyalist protesters as they arrived for the Irish League fixture between their club and Portadown.
Five policemen and a number of civilians were injured in the violence as the buses tried to make their way through the crowd and were attacked with stones, bottles and other missiles.
The RUC Chief Superintendent, Mr Bill McCreesh, Assistant Chief Constable for the South Region, received a head wound as windows were shattered on the buses and police intervened.
The bus passengers, including a number of children and relatives of the Cliftonville players, used the seats to shield themselves from the missiles, and the buses eventually retreated.
The match had begun, but after word of the trouble spread, Cliftonville abandoned the game at half time. The Cliftonville chairman, Mr Jim Boyce, said football had been dragged into the political situation which had been developing since July.
The IFA is to examine the implications of the incident, which was the second time Cliftonville supporters have been attacked on their way to a fixture.
About 150 loyalist protesters were involved. They had gathered in response to leaflets urging support for a peaceful protest because Cliftonville fans had allegedly placed a wreath in Loughgall, Co Armagh, last August for eight IRA men shot dead by the SAS outside the RUC station in that village in 1987.