World Notes BRITAIN

A capacity crowd had turned out for the Football Association Cup semifinal last week at the 54,000-seat Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. As Liverpool and Nottingham Forest faced off on the field, throngs of fans without tickets poured through a gate that had been opened by police. Seven minutes into the game, a surge of spectators pushed into the packed standing room, crushing those in front against metal barriers. One of the barriers gave way, and at least 93 people were killed.

Dead and injured fans lay strewn across the field. After calm had been restored, Football Association officials promised a "full investigation" into the tragedy. Among the questions: Why did police fail to control the overflow crowd? And who authorized the opening of the gate? Said British Sport Minister Colin Moynihan: "This is a tragic day for sport, football and the country as a whole."

British soccer has been plagued by a series of fatal mishaps. During a 1985 soccer game in Bradford, England, fire engulfed the grandstand, killing 56 fans. The same year, 39 people died at Heysel Stadium in Brussels after Liverpool hooligans attacked supporters of the rival Italian team, touching off a lethal stampede. As a result, the Union of European Football Associations banned English clubs indefinitely and barred Liverpool from playing in Europe for an additional three seasons.

For British soccer fans, last week's tragedy could not have come at a more inopportune time. Only four days earlier the U.E.F.A. had decided to re-admit English clubs in the 1990-91 season, subject to British government approval.