Welsh football fans get heavy

WELSH FOOTBALL fans werethrown off the team's flight to Belarus after officials discovered the aircraft was too heavily weighed down with players' kit, food and water.

The Welsh football association offloaded 14 supporters from the flight to Minsk for a Euro 2000 qualifying match. A Stansted airport spokesman said British World Airlines, which organised the flight, had arranged to fly the ejected fans to Minsk from Gatwick.

One of the fans, Gwilym Boore, said: "We have been dumped. The Welsh FA seemed more concerned about getting the FA Cup Final to Cardiff than looking after their hard-core fans."

A football association spokesman said: "It was a choice of whether the party went or the fans. It's most regrettable, because the fans are most important to us."