FIFA Opens Disciplinary Proceedings Against Argentina Over World Cup Celebrations

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The International Football Federation (FIFA) said on Friday it had opened a disciplinary proceedings against the Argentinian Football Association in connection with the offensive behavior of players after the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar.

The Argentine national football team became a three-time world champion, defeating France in a penalty shootout in the final of the tournament in Qatar. After the game, a video appeared on the internet, on which Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez announced a moment of silence in a dressing room for French footballer Kylian Mbappe - despite the player having scored three goals on the Argentine during the tourney.

However, that wasn't the last of Martinez's taunts. The goalkeeper continued to disrespect the French player during the championship parade in Buenos Aires, where he showed a doll with an attached photo of Mbappe.

"The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against the Argentinian Football Association due to potential breaches of articles 11 (Offensive behaviour and violations of the principles of fair play) and 12 (Misconduct of players and officials) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code," the statement read.

The world football federation has also initiated a case against the Croatian Football Association due to a possible violation of the articles "discrimination" and "order and safety at matches" after the match for third place in the World Cup against the Moroccan team, which the Croats won.

This proceeding may be related to media reports that Croatian players Dejan Lovren and Marcelo Brozovic displayed the Nazi salute and allegedly shouted a Nazi slogan during the end-of-the-tournament party.

The Mexican and Ecuadorian football federations have been already fined 100,000 Swiss francs ($107,902) and 20,000 Swiss francs ($21,580), respectively, for violating the discrimination article during the 2022 World Cup matches. Moreover, the next match of the teams under the auspices of FIFA will be held behind closed doors.

The Serbian Football Association, in addition to a fine of 50,000 Swiss francs, has been sanctioned with a partial closure of the stands for one game. Additionally, seven Serbian players have been individually fined for misconduct in the group-stage match against Switzerland, which ended in Serbia's defeat.