Thursday 03 November 2016, 16:01

FIFA sanctions several member associations for incidents during FIFA World Cup qualifiers

FIFA can today confirm sanctions imposed on several football associations for incidents during recent 2018 FIFA World Cup™ qualifying matches, including the discriminatory and severe unsporting conduct of spectators as well as religious manifestations.

Following match reports and, in some instances, additional evidence generated by the Anti-Discrimination Monitoring System, FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings against associations including those of Albania, Kosovo, Croatia, Estonia, Ukraine, Paraguay, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Iran.

Albania was fined a total of CHF 50,000 for two cases, while Croatia was fined CHF 50,000, Kosovo CHF 30,000, Brazil CHF 25,000, Paraguay CHF 20,000, Estonia CHF 20,000, Ukraine CHF 15,000, Chile CHF 15,000 and Argentina CHF 15,000 for individual cases. All of these proceedings relate to incidents involving discriminatory and unsporting conduct by fans, including homophobic chants in some instances.

In the case of Iran, the association was fined CHF 45,000 for several religious manifestations during a match.

The Disciplinary Committee took the decisions after analysing all of the specific circumstances of each case, in particular, the match officials’ reports, the position adopted by the association (if applicable) as well as the anti-discrimination match observer’s report and the relevant evidence available. Mitigating circumstances were also taken into account in some cases, including the member associations’ efforts to raise awareness among spectators and fight discrimination. The committee has absolute discretion regarding the evaluation of proof (cf. art. 97 par. 1 of the FDC). The concerned parties have been notified of the decisions.

Besides the monitoring and sanctions of potential incidents, FIFA has put in place a comprehensive strategy to tackle discrimination, which includes the FIFA Good Practice Guide on Diversity and Anti-Discrimination, training, awareness-raising and the support of member associations in developing robust educational and preventive measures.

Further details on the cases are available in the disciplinary overview document for the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ preliminary competition, published on FIFA.com.

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