Not everything seems fine about some Fifa penalties
MOSCOW: The World Cup rulings in Fifa’s disciplinary court have not always been easy to comprehend. Sweden was slugged 70,000 Swiss francs (~48.59 lakh) for players wearing non-approved socks, and Croatia was hit with the same monetary penalty when a player took a non-sponsor’s drink onto the field.
Yet a Russia fan’s neo-nazi banner and a Serbian World War Two-era nationalist symbol waved inside venue drew only 10,000 Swiss francs (~6.95 lakh) fines, paid by their national football bodies which are responsible for fan misconduct at games.
Commercial rules can seem to be enforced more strictly than bad behaviour, and Argentine great Diego Maradona appears to enjoy a unique code of conduct of his own. Maradona, a paid Fifa ambassador, uses Facebook to explain away allegations of racism and offensive behaviour from VIP seats, charges that have previously led football’s world governing body to ban players.
At times, the priorities and consistency in Fifa decisions can look a curious form of World Cup justice. Even before the World Cup, Fifa was criticised by the anti-discrimination group Kick It Out for prioritising commercial gain over eliminating racism from the sport.
But sports law expert James Kitching says Fifa’s approach makes some sense, because the World Cup depends on sponsors and broadcasters paying for exclusive deals.
“A financial sanction is always heavy in a commercial case because exclusivity is something Coca-cola or Adidas pays millions of dollars for,” said Kitching, the former head of sports legal affairs at the Asian Football Confederation.
“It’s a sensible solution,” Kitching said of the heavy fines. “If they are not seen to protect it (sponsor exclusivity), they put everything at risk.”
Fifa has so far added up to 482,000 Swiss francs (~3.34 crore) in fines imposed by Fifa’s disciplinary committee in Russia.
A further six-figure sum must be paid by federations and players in mandatory fines for on-field conduct. Teams due to pay 15,000 Swiss francs (~10.410 lakh) for getting five yellow cards in a game, rising by 3,000 Swiss francs (~2.26 lakh) for subsequent bookings, include Argentina, Colombia and Morocco.
Maradona’s double middlefinger gesture celebrating a late winning goal for Argentina against Nigeria was seen globally in the official Fifa broadcast. A similar gesture by England’s Dele Alli in a World Cup qualifying game last year led Fifa to ban him for the next qualifier.
At a short and intense World Cup finals tournament, banning players has more impact.
Fifa resisted calls to ban Switzerland players Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri in Russia. Its rules suggested mandatory twogame bans were possible for celebrating goals with hand gestures of an Albania eagle that could provoke rival Serbia fans. Both players were fined 10,000 Swiss francs (~6.94 lakh).
Croatia defender Domagoj Vida was only warned for a social media post where he is shown shouting ‘Glory to Ukraine’ after helping his team eliminate Russia in the quarters. Apparently there’s no consistency, although Kitching suggests: “There has been a shift perhaps on how (Fifa) have treated such cases.”