My Mum was sickened by racist taunts of Serb fans

European governing body UEFA yesterday launched an investigation into incidents that took place on and off the field during England's 2-0 win over the Serbs in the Under 21 European Championship in Nijmegem on Sunday but have been criticised for effectively deciding to leave any adjudication until after the tournament ends.

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Manchester City defender Onuoha took most of the abuse in Holland and last night the 20-year-old also revealed that it was not the first time that he has suffered at the hands of mindless bigots in Europe.

He said: "My mum has been with me for the past 10 years at every game and she was upset because she came over with my aunt and little cousin from America.

"I think it was the first time they've watched me and it was a sad moment to see stuff like that happening. But we move on. I had to take it at the time.

"It's unfortunate for me because I've seen it before when I was younger. When I was in the academy at City I used to go to places like Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany, and get it from people there.

"Happily I think those countries have changed. I think UEFA are dealing with stuff like that now so hopefully it will all be sorted out." Onuoha's take on his situation was laudable yesterday as he sought to move on from what was a pretty unpleasant evening and concentrate on what could be a big occasion against the hosts in the semi-final in Heerenveen tomorrow.

Nevertheless, the ramifications were considerable yesterday as Sports Minister Richard Caborn joined Onuoha's team-mates in condemning yet another night of reprehensible behaviour from a Balkan country's supporters.

Caborn said: "I'm saddened and extremely disappointed by the racism that some of our young England players were subjected to.

"No player should have to tolerate such abuse, which brings disgrace to the game.

"I urge UEFA to investigate the matter immediately. I shall also be writing to my Serbian counterpart to express my disgust at what happened."

UEFA were quick to defend their stance on the issue, explaining that their statute does not allow them to ban countries for isolated offences by their supporters.

Spokesman William Gaillard said: "If we find out players were involved then we can act quickly. But we need hard evidence."

The England camp are certain that Onuoha's fellow defender Justin Hoyte was also the target of racist abuse from Serbia players as the teams left the field and will provide evidence if asked to do so by UEFA investigators.

Blackburn striker Matt Derbyshire said: "Obviously, Justin was going to be upset, but it's one of those things. That's why he's a professional footballer.

"He gets paid so much money to deal with these situations and he's dealt with it superbly. He's a strong character. He'll come back in the next game."

Reading striker Leroy Lita added: "We showed restraint. We just want to play football. Let the right people deal with it.

"If you want to get things like that out of the game, you have to do something about it."

With Serbia due to face Belgium in the other semi-final tomorrow, UEFA have to face up the possibility that Miroslav Djukic's team will reach the final, where they would meet England once more or hosts Holland, who also have several black players in their team.

As befits a young man with A-grade A' Levels in maths, business studies and IT behind him, Onuoha struck a further note of reason when he said: "People were talking about banning Serbia from the tournament but they got to the semi-final fair and square and from what I'm hearing it's not the players who are being racist, it's the fans.

"Say, for example, there were maybe two or three England fans in a stadium who might be racists. If they chant, how would the nation feel if the country got thrown out of the tournament?"