THE four home nations may consider joining forces in challenging their Fifa fines over last month’s poppy row after it emerged the Irish Football Association cannot appeal.
On Monday Fifa announced that the associations of Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales had all been punished to varying degrees for their marks of respect to commemorate Armistice Day.
The Football Association was fined £35,308 and the Scottish Football Association £15,692 after England and Scotland wore black armbands bearing a poppy, which Fifa considers a political symbol, during the November 11 World Cup qualifier at Wembley.
The Football Association of Wales and the IFA, whose teams wore plain black armbands for their games, earned respective punishments of £15,692 and £11,769 for displaying poppies around their stadiums.
The FA announced they would lodge an appeal against the decision made by Fifa’s disciplinary committee, while both the SFA and FAW are understood to be awaiting the written reasons from the world governing body before determining their next course of action.
However, the IFA cannot follow the FA’s suit and take the matter to Fifa’s appeal committee because the sum of their fine is 15,000 Swiss Francs and, under Fifa’s disciplinary code, it is required to exceed such a figure for it to be contested.
It is understood that the IFA still intends to explore its options on challenging the punishment and it will hold a board meeting tonight to discuss the matter further.
One avenue it may explore is uniting with the other associations to fight Fifa’s decision, with the hope being one collective voice may carry more weight in the appeal process.
On Monday, Claudio Sulser, chairman of the Fifa disciplinary committee, said: “With these decisions, it is not our intention to judge or question specific commemorations as we fully respect the significance of such moments in the respective countries, each one of them with its own history and background.
“However, keeping in mind that the rules need to be applied in a neutral and fair manner across Fifa’s 211 member associations, the display, among others, of any political or religious symbol is strictly prohibited. In the stadium and on the pitch, there is only room for sport, nothing else.”
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