The English FA yesterday dismissed as nonsense claims that Kevin Keegan jeopardised England's chances of qualifying for Euro 2000 by drinking with his players until 6.0 a.m. after their 2-0 victory over Scotland at Hampden Park last weekend.
The England coach and five of his squad stayed up until the early hours of Sunday morning at their Buckinghamshire hotel drinking beer, playing cards and watching Lennox Lewis's fight with Evander Holyfield.
Sports scientists questioned whether it was an ideal way to wind down and prepare for the second leg, and it emerged last night that Scotland's coach Craig Brown imposed an alcohol ban on his squad after the game. But the FA insisted Keegan's behaviour was beyond reproach.
"Kevin Keegan talked openly last Monday about the arrangements which he had made with his players last weekend," said a spokesman, referring to Keegan's decision to give his squad Saturday night and Sunday off, demanding only that they did not go to nightclubs.
"He was then praised for treating his players like adults. In our view there isn't an issue to discuss."
The FA quickly became aware of what happened but decided that, with two experienced doctors on the England staff and the game at Wembley three days away, there was no problem.
That view was reiterated by Arsenal's manager Arsene Wenger, not one to treat diet and preparation lightly. "It can be a problem to sleep after a game like that," he said. "There's a lot of tension and it's hard to relax. Kevin Keegan has enough experience at club and international level to know what to do."
Meanwhile, UEFA are studying reports from their official delegate and French referee Gilles Velssiere before deciding what action to take after Ireland's battle with Turkish players and fans at the end of Wednesday night's Euro 2000 play-off in Bursa.
"It is likely to be left until the next meeting of our disciplinary committee on December 16th but if the reports suggest the trouble was very bad we could act before then," said a UEFA spokeswoman yesterday.
