FIFA has banned Bahrain defender Sayed Baqer for 10 matches for ‘discriminatory behaviour’ in a World Cup qualifier against Hong Kong, soccer’s world governing body has said.<\/p>\n
Baqer, 25, was captured on video making a slant-eyed gesture in the direction of Hong Kong supporters after a goalless draw in the city on Nov. 14.<\/p>\n
FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings against Baqer last month and announced that the player had also been fined 30,000 Swiss francs (23,596.20 pounds) and warned over his conduct.<\/p>\n
The suspension follows the governing body’s July announcement that it had doubled the minimum ban for racist behaviour to 10 games.<\/p>\n
A number of high-profile racist incidents have marred the game this season.<\/p>\n
The most recent involved the arrest of a Chelsea fan for allegedly racially abusing Tottenham Hotspur’s South Korean forward Son Heung-min in a Premier League match in London on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger also alleged he was racially abused in the same game, prompting the Professional Footballers’ Association to call for a government inquiry into the proliferation of racist incidents in English soccer.<\/p>\n
Italy has also been front and centre this season with Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku and Brescia’s Mario Balotelli being targeted by rival fans during Serie A matches.<\/p>\n
In a separate ruling, FIFA ordered Indonesia to play one match behind closed doors without fans and fined the country’s soccer association 200,000 Swiss francs over security failings during a World Cup qualifier with Malaysia last month.<\/p>\n
Malaysia were fined 50,000 Swiss francs for the behaviour of their fans.<\/p>\n
Sierra Leone have also been told to play one game behind closed doors and were fined 50,000 Swiss francs for a lack of order during a qualifier against Liberia in September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FIFA has banned Bahrain defender Sayed Baqer for 10 matches for ‘discriminatory behaviour’ in a World Cup qualifier against Hong Kong, soccer’s world governing body has said. Baqer, 25, was captured on video making a slant-eyed gesture in the direction of Hong Kong supporters after a goalless draw in the city on Nov. 14. FIFA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[65,90],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-antonio-rudiger","tag-fifa"],"yoast_head":"\n