If you'll recall, Oman defeated Myanmar in Asia's Round 2 by a score of 4-0 on aggregate. The second leg played in Yangon was abandoned after 40 minutes with Oman holding a 2-0 lead in the game. Myanmar fans were continuously pelting the field with objects including flares, endangering the players, officials and themselves.
FIFA awarded Oman the victory and they advanced to Round 3 as a result. Today, after appeal, Myanmar found out its penalties. They are as follows:
i. A fine of 25,000 Swiss Francs
ii. Costs of Proceedings to be payed by Myanmar (2,000 Francs)
iii. Indefinite probation for the Myanmar Football Federation
iv. Prohibited from hosting World Cup Qualifying matches for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Article 4 was originally to be an expulsion of the team from 2018 qualifying but FIFA amended that decision on appeal.
It is nice to see FIFA take a stand against the host federation in a case like this, when FIFA could have simply said the fans were out of the control of the federation. Ensuring the safety and security of players and officials is paramount to world football's success and this serves notice to all nations that they must be vigilant in security at all matches they're hosting.
I'm not surprised they amended Article 4 as it did seem unfairly harsh to the team at first. That Myanmar had already been eliminated played a role in that though. Had they beaten Oman and advanced to Round 3, they would surely be booted from 2014 qualifying in this decision.
No comments:
Post a Comment