Uruguay’s Diego Godin remonstrates with referee Daniel Siebert after the match.
Serbia and Uruguay may have ended their FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 campaigns in the group stage but their football associations came into focus yesterday when the Disciplinary Committee of the game’s ruling body opened proceedings against them.
FIFA stated that its Disciplinary Committee was probing Football Association of Serbia due to “potential breaches of articles 12 (misconduct of players and officials), 13 (discrimination) and 16 (order and security at matches) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code related to incidents during the Serbia vs Switzerland World Cup match” that took place on December 2.
The FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee investigation over the Uruguayan Football Association is regarding “potential breaches of articles 11 (offensive behaviour and violations of the principles of fair play), 12 (misconduct of players and officials) and 13 (discrimination) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code in relation to incidents during the Ghana vs Uruguay match” that took place on December 2.
FIFA said it also started “separate proceedings against Uruguayan players José María Giménez, Edison Cavani, Fernando Muslera and Diego Godín for potential breaches of articles 11 and 12 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code in relation to incidents that occurred at the end of said match”.
Serbia lost to Switzerland 3-2 in the said match which was their last in Group G while Uruguay beat Ghana 2-0 in their final Group H match. Both Serbia and Uruguay failed to qualify for Round of 16.
Switzerland won a bad-tempered match against Serbia at the Stadium 974 to qualify. FIFA didn’t explain what the “incidents” its committee was investigating. However, during that match fans were told to stop all discriminatory chants and gestures.
The announcement reportedly came after an altercation between Swiss captain Granit Xhaka and Serbia’s players. The incident that happened in the second half involved Switzerland forward Breel Embolo and Serbia substitutes who ran onto the pitch to argue with Swiss players before the referee got involved.
Xhaka hails from a family with roots in Kosovo, the former Serb province with a majority ethnic Albanian population. Reportedly Serbia were already being investigated by FIFA after the team hung a controversial flag in their changing room before their match against Brazil which they lost 2-0.
The Kosovo football federation filed a complaint with FIFA after photos showed a version of the Serbian flag with a map that depicted Kosovo as part of the country and included the slogan “there will be no surrender”, AFP reported.
Uruguay’s 2-0 win over old foe Ghana at Al Janoub Stadium was not enough for the South American country to qualify for the next stage but the game added zest towards the latter part when news broke that South Korea were leading Portugal 2-1 in the other match played simultaneously. Uruguay upped the tempo looking for another goal to beat the Koreans on goal difference into the knockouts.
Tempers flared violently at full time as Uruguay players targeted German referee Daniel Siebert, asking for explanations on two dismissed penalty appeals - one on Darwin Nunez and another on Edinson Cavani in stoppage time.
Central defender Gimenez was seen aggressively shoving those around him while confronting the referee. A video circulating on social media showed Gimenez hitting a FIFA official in the back of the head and swearing at the officials.
Later, Gimenez was seen shouting at a camera: “They [the referees] are all a bunch of thieves….” Valencia’s srtiker Cavani was seen punching a television monitor as he made his way through the tunnel.
FIFA did not give a timeframe for the proceedings. If proved guilty the associations may face sanctions while players match bans.
