Around 23.5 million tickets were sought in the latest sale for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which takes place in less than seven months.
The International Football Association Board FIFA has hit several teams with fines and penalties as a result of the incidents that marred the last stage of the World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers.
There were no directions for replays or overturning of results in the list of decisions published by FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee, despite Egypt and Algeria’s requests. Both countries are part of the six African football associations who are facing sanctions by the global football body.
Senegal – Egypt
Senegal qualified for the World Cup in late March after defeating Egypt in a two-legged match that concluded in a 1-1 draw and then proceeded to a penalty shootout. Senegal only scored three of their five penalty kicks, while Egypt only scored one of their four.
Egypt’s first penalty sparked outrage and ignited a heated debate that is still going on.
Throughout the match, Senegalese fans frequently shone numerous lasers into the faces of Egyptian players. The amount of lasers focused at Mohammed Salah’s face appeared to increase as he walked up to take Egypt’s first penalty. Salah squandered the penalty kick.
Egypt also claimed that its players were racially abused and pelted with rocks.
Egypt requested a replay of the game after filing a complaint with FIFA, citing the above concerns as justification.
Senegal must now play one game behind closed doors and pay a $180,000 fine after being found in violation of FIFA’s disciplinary code in their Teranga Lions’ second-leg triumph over Egypt, which qualified them for the World Cup.
The football governing body cited a number of issues during the match; “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.”
In addition to not getting their requested playoff, the Egypt Football Association was fined $6,000 when a referee reprimanded six of the Pharaohs squad players in the second match in Dakar.
Algeria
Algeria had filed a request for a replay of their second-leg loss to Cameroon, which resulted in the Desert Foxes being eliminated on the away goals rule.
This came after several decisions made by Gambian referee Bakary Gassama angered the Algerian Football Federation and its national team coach Djamel Belmadi.
In a statement, the Algerian Football Federation said: “FAF officially lodges an appeal with FIFA against the scandalous arbitration which distorted the result of the match. We are determined to use all the legally permitted votes to have our rights restored and to replay the match under conditions guaranteeing the honesty and partiality of the arbitration. We also demand that FIFA starts an official investigation to shed light on the refereeing in the Algeria and Cameroon playoff.”
Instead, FIFA only slapped Algeria with a $3,000 fine for “order and security at matches, throwing objects and lighting of fireworks.”
Other penalties issued by FIFA
Nigeria, who were also eliminated on away goals, was fined $154,000 and ordered to play one match without fans after their fans invaded the pitch following their second leg against Ghana in Abuja.
Additionally, following a pitch invasion following their first-leg tie with Morocco, the Democratic Republic of Congo will have to play a match without fans and pay a fine of $123,000. The DR Congo was also fined $5,000 for “throwing objects” during the second leg of the play-off, which they lost 4-1 in Morocco.
Morocco, on the other hand, will be fined $30,000 for “lighting fireworks, throwing items, and blocking stairways” during the second leg match at the Mohamed V stadium in Casablanca.
Lebanon was also fined more than $100,000 and playing a match without its fans for failing to maintain security, firing projectiles, and storming the pitch during the standoff with Syria in March, while Syria was penalised a bit over $7,500.
Iran, who qualified for the World Cup, was warned for failing to provide security and breaking safety standards during their January 27 game with Iraq.
Due to different breaches, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, and Honduras were among the other teams penalised with financial fines and a restriction on fan attendance.
Around 23.5 million tickets were sought in the latest sale for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which takes place in the country in less than seven months.
In the first round of sales which took place in January and February, 804,186 tickets were purchased.
The demand for applications was higher over this 23-day period because it followed the World Cup draw on April 1, which revealed when and where each team will be playing.
Approximately two million tickets are available to the general public, with the remaining 1.2 million going to sponsors and other backers.
So far, 29 teams have qualified for the event out of a potential 32. New Zealand will meet Costa Rica in a playoff on June 14, and three more seats will be announced in June.
