He who huffs doesn't whine, or FIFA is getting tougher (also)

On Tuesday, the Hungarian national team received a harsh punishment after the International Football Association (FIFA) closed its disciplinary proceedings related to what happened in Hungary and England.

The double standard is quite obvious: when the English fans beat the Italians in the head, whistled their national anthem, used prohibited pyrotechnic devices and tried to distract the Danes' goalkeeper with a laser light at a crucial moment, international football sentiments were not so harsh (of course, we know that UEFA it was an event, and this was FIFA, but the Hungarian national team was also punished by UEFA for vague reasons, and the rules are basically the same). The Hungarian fans encouraged the national eleven in an exemplary manner, there was no mention of group racism, only the throwing of beer glasses can be objected to. However, in Denmark, for example – we saw it at the European Court of Justice – it is almost a "folk custom", yet the Danes did not receive any punishment. The only sin of the Hungarian fans was obviously that they said no to the kneeling provocation of the English (for which even their own fans booed them, but UEFÁ and FIFA didn't care about that either).

At the beginning of September, the Hungarian-English match was organized in the Puskás Arena with great interest. As in the European Championship and before that, the Hungarian fans gave fantastic encouragement to the players throughout the match. The atmosphere in the stadium was wonderful, the national eleven and the fans met again. However, many did not like this.

Politics also played a role in the meeting, as the English players demonstrated by kneeling before the whistle - true to their custom. However, they knew exactly that this is not well received in Hungary, the majority of people see the BLM antics as an unnecessary provocation. After that, it was not surprising that the Hungarian fans said no to the political stunt and loudly booed the kneeling Englishmen (by the way, the English fans also booed their national team several times for kneeling).

This did not go down well with the English FA and they immediately appealed to FIFA. It should be noted: after the game, Sky Sport's reporter tried to get out of four English players and the national team captain Southgate that they had experienced racist expressions, but they all replied that they had not heard such. Moreover, Southgate added: the English should first sweep and tidy up their own house.

The organization drew up a complete concept procedure. Already on the day after the match, it was announced that disciplinary proceedings would be initiated due to the alleged incidents of racist fans during the World Cup qualifiers. According to the signs, there was little time to draw up the indictment, as it stood on weak legs, to put it mildly.

In the first round, they complained that the Hungarian fans "mockingly voiced" their displeasure when the visiting team's players knelt down before kick-off. The international association also did not like the fact that after the goals, plastic cups and various objects flew onto the pitch.

FIFA's "argument" is strongly weakened by the fact that these are everyday occurrences in football matches, and so far there has been no penalty for this.

Perhaps the most absurd of the accusations was that the Hungarian fans mocked Raheem Sterling by imitating monkey sounds after he scored England's first goal. Moreover, according to the international association, Jude Bellingham also suffered a similar incident. However, this was frivolously claimed based on the Sky Sports video, they could not provide any evidence other than this recording. However, on the Sky Sport video, only one - presumably - cheering fan was visible, and he was not in the front rows either.

It is typical that the British channel presented the recording in such a way that the sound was mixed under the voice of the reporter - since no roaring could be heard. It should also be noted that the MLSZ reported the supporter seen in the video - and in principle it could only be punished if the national association does not take action.

The organization clearly operated with fabricated accusations, since even Harry Maguire, the author of the third English goal, reported that "after the match, I spoke to the boys in the dressing room, and the truth is that none of them heard racist chants."

Although what FIFA put on the table was nothing more than a suddenly put together package, the verdict could be sealed in advance: the Hungarian national team will be punished.

"The English players complain about yesterday's "hostile atmosphere in Budapest". In Wembley before the EC final, the Italian national anthem can hardly be heard amidst the whistling concert of the English fans", Péter Szijjártó from the Hungarian government reacted first, drawing attention to the double standard with a video.

Kötcsén also gave his opinion on the Anglo-Hungarian to a journalist's question from the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. According to him, "it is necessary to act against the talk of a hostile and racist atmosphere in connection with the match in Budapest, because that was not the case". He added that there were manifestations that should be acted against, but "to classify the behavior of 60-70 thousand people based on these is nonsense".

Csaba Dömötör, the parliamentary state secretary of the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office, pointed out that in the fight against violence and racism, double standards cannot be allowed anywhere.

FIFA was not particularly impressed by the arguments, and on Tuesday it imposed an unusually severe punishment on the Hungarian national team: the Hungarian Football Association (MLSZ) is obliged to organize the next two FIFA-affiliated matches behind closed doors, and the penalty for the second match is for two years suspended by the organization. In addition, the Hungarian association must also pay a fine of 200,000 Swiss francs, i.e. about HUF 65 million.

Source: Origo.hu

Featured image: M4Sport