Five members of Northern Ireland's football squad have been charged with disturbing public order in Prague, despite earlier conflicting reports. The players were charged and allowed to leave the Czech Republic, according to a police spokesman. He said that the case would now be passed to the British authorities. One of the five had been questioned, but only as a witness, in connection with an incident in which a Prague disco bouncer sustained head injuries.
This conflicts with an earlier statement from Irish Football Association general secretary David Bowen, who said: "All charges against all five have been dropped." The five involved are goalkeeping coach Tommy Wright, skipper Michael Hughes, winger Peter Kennedy and strikers Glenn Ferguson and David Healy.
The players had gone to an “erotic club” called the Nancy Club in the Czech capital after the Northern Ireland team lost 3-1 against the Czech Republic yesterday evening in a Group Three qualifier for the 2002 World Cup. The incident happened at 8:30am when the bill was being paid at the club. The club’s owner said that the players had been "drunk and aggressive."
All five were questioned at the team hotel before being taken into custody, and blood samples have been taken for traces of alcohol. Last night’s plucky defeat ended any lingering hopes of qualification for the next year’s World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
Filed by Greg McKevitt
