UEFA said today that its disciplinary body was likely to rule on November 21st on racist incidents and crowd trouble during England's Euro 2004 qualifier in Slovakia.
A spokesman for European football's governing body said there was sufficient evidence from reports by both the referee and UEFA's match delegate to launch an inquiry, without waiting for an official protest.
"If there is a case to be answered then it is likely to go to the next meeting of the disciplinary body which is scheduled for November 21st," UEFA communications director Mike Lee said.
"We're talking about the racist abuse of English players and some disturbances and clashes between police and supporters in the England end," he added.
The UEFA official said the issue of racism was raised at a security meeting ahead of the game.
English football association officials said they would be demanding action from UEFA after their black players were subjected to racist barracking by some of the crowd in Bratislava on Saturday.
The Euro 2004 qualifier was also marred by crowd trouble when England fans started hurling missiles at Slovakian supporters five minutes after Slovakia took the lead in the first half.
England eventually won the match 2-1.
The incidents came after the governing body launched a Europe-wide campaign last week to stamp out racism following similar incidents in Champions League and UEFA Cup matches.
Its disciplinary committee also fined PSV Eindhoven, Belgian club Brugge KV, and FK Sartid of Yugoslavia after officials backed up claims of racist taunts from the crowd against opposing team players.
AFP