FIFA fines Mexico, Serbia over fans’ misbehaviour

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has imposed a 10,000 Swiss Francs fine on both the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) and the Serbian Football Federation for the misconduct of their fans.

FIFA said in a statement on Thursday that the disciplinary measure, which was in line with article 67 of its Disciplinary Code, was in relation to discriminatory and insulting chants by the fans.

The Mexicans committed the offence during the first half of the 2018 FIFA World Cup match played between Germany and Mexico on Sunday at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

Our correspondent reports that the Group F opening match ended 1-0 in favour of Mexico.

“The decision was passed after a thorough assessment of the relevant match reports, the FMF’s precedents and the evidence provided.

“The evidence included videotapes of the incidents and examples of certain sustainable actions taken by the FMF to raise awareness among its supporters.

“Moreover, the Disciplinary Committee gave a warning to the FMF, who may face additional sanctions in case of repeated infringements of this type,’’ the committee said in the statement.

The Disciplinary Committee, chaired by a Ghanaian, Yeboah Anin, also sanctioned the Serbian Football Association with a fine of 10,000 Swiss Francs for the display of an offensive and political banner by Serbian fans.

This reportedly occurred during the Group E match played between Serbia and Costa Rica on Sunday at the Samara Arena.

The committee added that it took its decisions after analysing all specific circumstances of each case.

“These, in particular, were the match officials’ reports, the position adopted by the association (if any), as well as the relevant evidence available.

“This included the report of the anti-discrimination match observers, who have been deployed for the first time at a FIFA World Cup,’’ it said.

FIFA has a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination and has stated it would not tolerate such behaviour from fans in the stadium.

A series of measures to fight discrimination and promote diversity have been implemented, including an anti-discrimination monitoring system, which has been active since 2015.

“This has been in place to observe and report on all 871 matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and all matches of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup,’’ the committee said in the statement.

Furthermore, FIFA has published a Good Practice Guide on Diversity and Anti-Discrimination to support all of its member associations.

“In general terms, FIFA calls on all fans to come to the stadiums in a spirit of unity, peace and friendship,’’ the committee added.