World Cup 2022: “FIFA” opens disciplinary procedures against Argentina and Croatia
Argentine Rodrigo De Paul cuts a piece of the netting as a souvenir after winning the FIFA World Cup Final against France at Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar. 12/18/2022
On Friday, the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) opened disciplinary measures against the Argentine national teams, who won the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Croatia, against the background of the events that occurred successively during the matches between France and Morocco in the world football tournament.
The measures against Argentina are aimed in particular, according to the “FIFA” statement, “possible violations of Articles 11 (aggressive behavior and violation of the principles of fair play) and 12 (misconduct of players and officials)”, during the final match of the World Cup that “Albiceleste” won over the “Roosters” team with kicks. The penalty shootout 4-2, after they tied 3-3 in the regular and extra time.
And at a time when the “FIFA” statement did not specify the actions included in these procedures, Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was photographed after the match making a rude gesture, with the Golden Glove award given to the best goalkeeper in the finals. He was also photographed in the dressing room mocking French striker Kylian Mbappe. Argentina is also the subject of an action for violating the World Cup's media and marketing regulations.
Argentine Lionel Messi holds the Winners' Cup as he celebrates with his teammates after their victory in the final match of the FIFA World Cup
FIFA also initiated proceedings against the Croatian Federation for "possible violations of Articles 13 (discrimination) and 16 (order and security in matches) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code" during the third-place match against Morocco, which ended with the victory of Luka Modric's comrades 2-1.
The FIFA statement did not provide any details about the actions covered by this procedure, but during the celebrations of the Croatian national team, video clips circulated on social networks showed Croatian players singing nationalist songs with fascist connotations.
The newcomer to Lyon, French defender Diane Lovren, defended his comrades' behavior in an interview with Agence France-Presse by invoking "a patriotic song related to my country, which means that I love my country."
And the International Federation of the game indicated in its statement that it had taken penalties against the federations of Mexico, Ecuador, and Serbia for violating Article 13 of the Code of Conduct (Discrimination), because of the songs sung by the supporters of the three countries.
Mexico was fined 100,000 euros and imposed a match behind closed doors, Ecuador 200,000 and a match behind partially closed doors, and Serbia 50,000 and a match behind closed doors. Seven Serbian players were also individually punished for misconduct during their group-stage match against Switzerland.
