ZURICH, 18 November 2005 — FIFA will consider banning Turkey from the 2010 World Cup as punishment for the violence at Wednesday’s playoff match against Switzerland in Istanbul, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said yesterday.
“We will act tough,” Blatter said. “The catalogue of sanctions extends from a simple warning to suspension of the federation, which could mean exclusion from the next international event.”
Blatter said FIFA’s disciplinary committee will start its investigation immediately and decide on sanctions by Dec. 9, the date for the draw of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
“In the truest sense of the word, fair play was trampled underfoot,” Blatter told a news conference at FIFA headquarters. “This is unworthy of football. Football should promote understanding among peoples. This didn’t happen here.”
Blatter later indicated that lesser sanctions might be possible for Switzerland if the committee finds there was misbehavior in an earlier match in Switzerland.
Blatter, who is Swiss, said he found it “difficult to speak as a Swiss and as a FIFA president about something that concerns both Switzerland and FIFA. But it’s my responsibility.”
Blatter said Marcel Mathier, the Swiss lawyer who heads the disciplinary committee, will refrain from considering the case.
The two teams tied 4-4 on aggregate, but the Swiss advanced to next year’s World Cup in Germany on away goals.
“If a team that has won cannot celebrate on the pitch and instead have to run off like thieves, then something is wrong,” Blatter said.
After the final whistle, both teams raced from the field apparently to escape angry fans. A scuffle between players from both sides ensued in the tunnel on the way to the locker room. Swiss defender Stephane Grichting was injured in the brawl and hospitalized with a groin injury, the Swiss Football Association said.
Some of the violence was caught by television cameras. Swiss player Benjamin Huggel kicked Turkish trainer Mehmet Ozdilek in the back of the legs as the two teams left the field. Turkey’s Alpay Ozalan tried to kick Huggel in retaliation but instead made contact with another Swiss player in front of him. Huggel then grabbed Alpay around the neck and fell to the ground, with other players, coaches and security guards piling on.
“It was unbelievable,” Switzerland midfielder Raphael Wicky said on Hamburg’s website. “Turkish players and security guards started hitting us. I was hit on the head and the back.”
But he said Hamit and Halil Altintop, Turkish brothers who also play in Germany, came to his rescue and protected him from their teammates until he got to the dressing room. “If those two hadn’t been there, then it would have been goodnight,” Wicky added.
Blatter said FIFA would consider a range of severe sanctions against Turkey. “Anything can happen — from nothing at all to the suspension of the Turkish federation or even a ban on participation in the next World Cup,” he told a Swiss radio interviewer earlier.
Turkish soccer officials accused Blatter of being biased. “Blatter’s comments were extremely unfortunate,” Turkish soccer federation vice president, Sekip Mosturoglu, said. “This was not a one-sided event.”
Blatter said FIFA would await the report from the match officials in Istanbul. “What disturbs me the most the lack of respect shown the official Swiss delegation from their arrival until their departure,” he said.
The Swiss said they were subjected to hostile treatment when they arrived in Istanbul on Monday, including being held up for several hours in passport control. Fans taunted the players and reportedly threw eggs and rocks at the team bus as it left the airport.
