FIFA announced on Friday that it has launched a disciplinary investigation into the “incidents” that took place the previous day in Hungary-England, without specifying which incidents are in its field of vision. Before the match, when the English players knelt against racism in support of the movement. Black lives matter – whistled. When Sterling opened the scoring in the second half, paper cups rained down on him.
When Harry Maguire made the score 3: 0 (for the guests the match ended 4: 0), a rocket was fired across the field. And several journalists are reporting monkey screams directed towards Sterling and Bellingham, which the latter confirmed in an Instagram post yesterday. “This is part of the game, and it will be so as long as those in power do not impose appropriate penalties. We cannot let them win, keep smiling, ”he wrote with a photo and a big smile, warming up at the sideline at the Arena Puskás in Budapest.
Without specifying which of these incidents it will investigate, FIFA has hinted that provocations against Sterling and Bellingham are on its radar. “We reaffirm our position of rejection of all forms of racism and violence, as well as any other form of discrimination or abuse. We have a very clear position of zero tolerance for this hateful behavior in football, ”he warned in a statement.
However, the organization has been criticized for allowing the match to be played in a full stadium after UEFA ordered the Hungarian association to play three games behind closed doors (one of which was sentenced to two years probation) for the discriminatory behavior of their supporters in recent games. European Championships against Portugal and France in Budapest and Germany in Munich. On the occasion, in addition to several racist shouts – one of the victims was William Carvalho – there were also posters and shouts against homosexuality. The problem is that this penalty only applies to UEFA competitions – in order to extend it to FIFA competitions, each institution was required to comply with a different request.
In a statement, the Hungarian Federation defended “the vast majority of the 60,000 fans” who were at Arenas Puskas and warned that “troublemakers” would be “severely punished” with a two-year ban on stadium visits. However, in these tasks, he only had in mind the throwing of pyrotechnic objects and glasses on the field, and not racist incidents.
Peter Siyjarto, Hungary’s foreign minister, went even further and defended the whistle as the English players knelt – at least in light of the recent past: “Everybody saw, in the Euro final [em Wembley]how the English supporters behaved. We couldn’t even hear the Italian anthem on the whistle, let alone the insults after the game. There is no place for hypocrisy in sports or politics. “
