FIFA Fines Nigeria CHF150,000 For Misconduct During WC Playoff Against Ghana

FIFA has fined Nigeria an amount of 150,000 Swiss Francs (US$154,128.75) and one match without spectators for Nigeria’s failure to implement existing safety rules and failure to ensure that law and order were maintained in the stadium, invasion of the field of play and throwing of objects during its crucial World Cup (WC) playoff second leg game against archrivals, Ghana.

 The second leg match between Nigeria and Ghana ended in a 1-1 draw which handed the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup ticket to Ghana after a goalless draw in Kumasi.  

After the blast of the final whistle in Abuja on March 29, 2022, supporters of the Super Eagles invaded the pitch and vandalized properties at the stadium for the team’s failure to take advantage of its “birth right” to play in Qatar later in November this year.

FIFA today, May 2, 2022, published several sanctions imposed by its Disciplinary Committee for incidents that took place in the preliminary competition for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ in the first quarter of this year.

In line with FIFA’s zero-tolerance stance against discrimination and violence in football, a number of member associations have been punished due to the abusive behavior by their respective supporters.

FIFA disclosed in a statement that its Disciplinary Committee took the decisions based on the specific circumstances of each case but noted that some of the decisions may be subject to appeal. FIFA cautioned that its document only provided information for the media and “Only the decision as communicated to the concerned parties shall be deemed a valid legal document”.

Fines on Algeria, Egypt, DRC, Morocco

Algeria was found to have violated article 16 of FIFA’s disciplinary code and slapped with a fine of CHF 3,000 during the play-off game against Cameroon on March 29, 2022. Algeria was fined for its failure to maintain order and security at the match venue by throwing of objects and lighting of fireworks.

Congo DR was fined a total of CHF125,000 and one match without spectators. Congo DR was fined for failure to maintain order and security at matches by throwing of objects, invasion of the field of play, and for not organizing the match against Morocco properly.

Likewise, Morocco was also fined CHF 30,000 for failure to maintain order and security at matches as supporters engaged in lighting of fireworks, throwing of objects and blocked stairways during the return leg game against the DRC on March 29, 2022.

 Egypt was slapped with a fine of CHF 6,000 for team misconduct with 6 individual sanctions during the match against Senegal played on March 29, 2022.  

Senegal was also slapped with a fine of CHF175,000 ($180,000) and one (1) match without spectators for “failure to implement existing safety rules and failure to ensure that law and order are maintained in the stadium, invasion of the field of play, throwing of objects, lighting of fireworks, use of laser pointers and use of objects to transmit a message that is not appropriate for a sports events – offensive banner”.

Other countries fined by FIFA

Argentina was fined CHF 5,000 for delayed kickoff in the match against Venezuela on March 25, 2022. Argentina was again found guilty of the same offense in its game against Ecuador for team misconduct.

Australia was fined CHF1,000 for lightening of fireworks during the match against Vietnam. Bolivia was fined CHF27,500 and CHF5,000 in the matches against Brazil and Chile, respectively for its failure to maintain order and security at the match venues.

Other countries slapped with fines include Brazil (CHF 20,000), Canada (Fine of CHF 15,000 and Warning), and Chile (CHF 95,000 and One match with a limited number of spectators).

The sanctions cut across all the confederations with Portugal, Sweden, Peru, Paraguay, Poland, Turkey, Syria, Uruguay, USA, Wales, North Macedonia, Mexico, Panama, Lebanon, and Honduras, all receiving a fair share of the fines for various degrees of inappropriate behavior at the match venues.

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