Pompey braced for FA investigation

Numerous canisters were released by Charlton fans housed in the Milton End during their visit to Fratton Park.

The Addicks ran out 1-0 winners to deliver a hammer blow to the Blues’ play-off aspirations.

Meanwhile, Pompey are waiting to be contacted by football chiefs for observations over the smoke bomb incidents.

And should the FA not be satisfied by the club’s handling, a fine could be issued.

Chief executive Mark Catlin said: ‘People coming into our stadium are our responsibility and I am sure we will be asked for our observations.

‘We will explain it to the relevant bodies and hopefully that does enough to give them confidence that these are isolated incidents.

‘It can potentially be a fine, but we are normally pretty robust in how we deal with these issues.

‘We have an excellent safety and security manager in Marie Stedman, who deals with things correctly. We go through the correct procedures.

We don’t want to be killjoys, but these are the rules and regulations in stadiums now. Flares and smoke bombs are just not permitted, as much as they give enjoyment to some people, they cause distress to others.

‘The canisters are so small in some cases, it is very, very difficult to find them.

‘What you don’t want are search procedures going into football grounds to resemble going through security at airports and queues stretching up the street.

‘We try to exert a degree of leniency with people coming in and unfortunately sometimes that is abused.’