Senegal protest ‘unfair’ ruling

– Senegal’s football federation (FSF) has asked Fifa to reconsider its fair play ruling after their accumulation of more yellow cards than World Cup group rivals Japan made the African side the first country to be eliminated by the new regulation.

Japan and Senegal were left on the same points, goals and goal difference but it was Akira Nishino’s side that sneaked into the last-16 at the expense of the Africans.

Japan settled for a 1-0 loss to eliminated Poland last Thursday as the Volgograd Arena rang with boos from supporters with the Samurai Blue players passing the ball tamely among themselves in the final minutes of the game and Poland, happy with the consolation points, choosing not to chase them down.

With Japan and Senegal having drawn 2-2, the sides were split in a World Cup first by Fifa’s new tie-breaking “fair play” regulation, which compared the sides’ disciplinary records across their three group matches.

A yellow card counts as minus one point, while an indirect red is minus three. A direct red card would cost four points.

With two fewer yellow cards, Japan’s tally of minus four points was two better than Senegal, who felt aggrieved at being sent home for a reason other than the quality of their football.

The FSF said: “The Senegalese Football Federation deplores the lack of fair play this Japanese team has shown. It challenges Fifa on the notion of ranking the number of cards which loses its meaning and interest when the team lacking fair play is not worried by any penalty.” –