Euro 2000 was a depressing occasion. The England side, overpaid and underskilled, deserved to be knocked out. The English hooligans disgraced this country yet again and, again, the press was full of negative headlines.

There has been plenty of commentary on all this, yet I haven't seen any comment on another glaring aspect of the championship - the decline in standards of sportsmanship.

For example, in the England vs Romania game there were 30 fouls, 15 offsides and six yellow cards. That's a foul or offside every other minute.

The modern rule seems to be if you can't beat your opponent with football skills, foul him.

-Nigel Breakspear, Brunswick Square, Hove