England ready to offer olive branch to Turkey ahead of crucial qualifier

FRESH attempts to involve Sven-Goran Eriksson in peace initiatives ahead of England’s match in Turkey next month are to be made today but the chance of success appears bleak.

Senior figures in the Football Association are expected to bring up the possibility of a goodwill trip by the England coach to Istanbul when they meet their Turkish counterparts in a summit at UEFA's headquarters today.

Their idea would be for Eriksson and Turkey coach Senol Gunes to hold a joint press conference appealing for calm before and during the Euro 2004 qualifier, where England need only a draw on October 11 to make next summer's finals.

However, the Turkish FA have already turned down an offer for Gunes to attend a similar occasion with Eriksson today, and are understood to not be keen on arranging an Istanbul meeting.

UEFA will encourage any initiatives to increase co-operation between the associations but they will leave the arrangement of the details to the FAs themselves. The summit in Nyon, Switzerland, was called by UEFA after public statements about the match sent tensions surrounding the game soaring.

Eriksson warned England fans "they could be killed" if they went to Istanbul while Turkish FA president Hanuk Ulusoy retorted Eriksson as forgotten the Heysel disaster. "Of course he doesn't want England fans in Turkey because he doesn't want them to see a defeat."

The meeting will be chaired by UEFA chief executive Gerhard Aigner, with communications director Mike Lee and security expert Marc Timmer also in attendance.

Lee said: "This meeting is a follow-up to the one held with the two FAs earlier in the summer. It's an opportunity for us to be fully updated on the preparations that have been made for this game.

"The main focus will be safety, security, policing and ticketing issues and we will want to emphasise the importance of the right approach being taken to the build-up, both privately and publicly," he said.

The FA delegation will be led by chairman Geoff Thompson with director of football affairs David Davies, marketing director Paul Barber and security officer Ray Whitworth also there.

There will be a similar line-up in the Turkish delegation led by Ulusoy, who did not attend the previous meeting in July, plus police and security representatives from both countries.

Meanwhile, sports minister Richard Caborn has stepped up his efforts to persuade Sky to allow delayed transmission of the England/Turkey match on terrestrial TV.

Caborn has written to Sky chief executive Toy Ball putting forward the case and yesterday the minister instigated fresh contact between his officials and the satellite broadcaster.

Caborn said: "Sky was very helpful in allowing delayed transmission for the England/Italy game in 1997 where England qualified for the World Cup and we ask them to be helpful again.

"It also shows UEFA we have been acting responsibly and doing everything to ensure England's participation in the European Championship finals will not be put in jeopardy."

Sky have been reluctant to give any sort of indication about their feelings on the matter, and have yet to respond to the minister's call.