It is justified not to sanction the hosting federation if the latter has
quickly removed the banners, as soon as it became aware that they had a
political content, without any disturbance of the game and without any violence
or arrests of fans.
Facts/Procedure
On 11 September 2012, the Bulgarian national football team played a match against the national team of Armenia in the Preliminary Competition for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. According to the match commissioner’s report, 30 minutes before kick-off, the spectators in the Armenian stands fixed two banners containing political messages. Such messages were turned against the Hungarian government in relation to a political incident. The banners were removed by intervention of the match commissioner, the team responsible of Armenia and the local police, timely before the match’s kick-off.
On 20 September 2012, disciplinary proceedings by FIFA were opened against the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) since the above-mentioned incident appeared to be a violation of...
Why not join us?
Football Legal is an independent media publishing football law contents on a daily basis dedicated to all football law practitioners (lawyers, clubs, federations, intermediaries, football stakeholders, etc.).
Register today and stay tuned to the latest legal news.
Get started