FIFA has reportedly issued Football Federation Australia with a formal warning after a very small handful of Socceroos fans were said to have been caught using a homophobic chant at the World Cup during Australia’s group stage game against France.
Fairfax Media has published a statement from FIFA this afternoon, in which football’s global governing body confirms their Disciplinary Commission has warned the Australian football body over an incident in which four Socceroos fans aimed a homophobic chant at French players during the group stage game in Kazan on June 16th.
The statement obtained from FIFA reads as follows:
We can confirm that FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee issued a warning to the Australian Football Federation related to a very small group of fans (4) singing a homophobic chant during the 2018 FIFA World Cup match between France and Australia.
As usual, the decision was passed after having analysed the respective evidences at hand and after having taken into account all factors surrounding the infringement, including the fact that the incident was triggered by a very small group of fans.
Interestingly enough, Fairfax also reports that the FFA has denied receiving any formal warning, despite FIFA’s assertions it was delivered directly to them.
This is the only official misstep reported to have been perpetrated by the thousands of Australian fans who travelled to Russia to follow the national team’s ultimately unsuccessful journey through the group stages of the World Cup.
Due to the incident’s low-level nature, FIFA previously declined to make the warning public. However they previously levelled a USD$10,000 onto Mexican football authorities after finding that a much larger group of Mexican fans had used a homophobic chant during the tournament.
The FFA is taking steps to communicate with FIFA in regards to the issue.
Australia wound up losing the game against France 2-1.
