FIFA Issue Fines to Russian and Serbian Football Federations After Offensive Banners Seen at Games
FIFA have issued fines to both the Russian and Serbian football federations after certain fans were seen holding up offensive banners during various matches at the World Cup.
The Washington Post give details of FIFA's ruling, stating that FIFA have ordered the Russian Federation to pay a fine of 10,000 Swiss francs after a Neo-Nazi banner was spotted in the crowd during Russia's 3-0 loss to Uruguay.
The report says that FIFA worked with a group of monitoring experts from anti-discriminatory group Fare, and noted that the banner in question contained the number 88, which is used by far-right groups to represent "Heil Hitler", as H is the eighth letter in the alphabet.
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The fine issued to Serbia relates to a banner spotted during the team's 2-0 loss to Brazil. The Washington Post states that FIFA found a Chetnik banner during the game, which celebrated a nationalist group which was present during the Second World War. They must now pay a fine of 20,000 Swiss francs.
The Brazilian federation were also reportedly issued with a warning relating to the conduct of their supporters during the same game, although the nature of their behaviour was not specified.
The report also claims that FIFA issued the Moroccan federation with a fine of 65,000 Swiss francs after six members of the Moroccan staff rushed onto the pitch after Morocco's clash with Spain to vent their frustrations at the Video Assistant Referee's role in Spain's late equaliser, as former Liverpool forward Iago Aspas scored.
Fans were also spotted throwing objects onto the pitch, whilst the President of the Moroccan football federation was also warned after entering the technical area during the match.
They also received a separate warning after winger Nordin Amrabat of Watford appeared to criticise the video referee on television after the incident.
Finally, a fine of 15,000 Swiss francs was issued to the Mexican football federation after fans were seen throwing objects onto the pitch during their 3-0 loss to Sweden.
