FIFA bans 5 Uzbek players for deliberate bookings
FIFA has banned five Uzbekistan players from an additional World Cup qualifier after they tried to manipulate their suspensions by getting deliberate yellow cards.
FIFA has banned five Uzbekistan players from an additional World Cup qualifier after they tried to manipulate their suspensions by getting deliberate yellow cards.
The players will miss the opening match of the next stage of Asian qualifying in June, in addition to sitting out a meaningless qualifier against Japan this month.
FIFA says it has fined each player 3,000 Swiss francs ($3,270) and the Uzbekistan Football Federation 18,000 Swiss francs ($19,600).
The players all received yellow cards in earlier qualifiers before being booked again for time-wasting late in a 3-0 win against Tajikistan last November.
Uzbekistan already advanced from its group with Japan, and the players hoped to wipe clean their disciplinary records by missing only the match against Japan.