World Cup 2018: Groups A and B get set for finales – live
MOSCOW — The World Cup was thrust into the combustible mix of politics and soccer — dangerous ground that world soccer takes great pains to avoid — as a growing number of disciplinary proceedings and a star player’s threatened retirement brought several sensitive international flash points to the tournament’s doorstep this weekend.
The crises involved players for several teams and touched on a range of topics: Kosovar independence, Serbian nationalism, a beloved Egyptian striker and a controversial Chechen leader. At least one of the disagreements could potentially force FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, to issue suspensions in the middle of the tournament — possibly affecting which teams advance out of one of the tournament’s first-round groups.
Early Sunday, FIFA announced that its disciplinary committee had opened three more proceedings related to Friday’s testy Switzerland-Serbia match — bringing the total from the game to six. Hours later, it emerged that one of the tournament’s most popular players, the Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah, was considering retiring from his national team in the wake of his interactions with a Chechen politician.
FIFA’s political problems began when the Swiss players Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri both made the so-called double-eagle symbol with their hands after scoring in a 2-1 victory against Serbia. The gesture, made by linking the thumbs and fanning out the fingers on both hands, is a nationalist sign that many with ethnic Albanian roots make to symbolize the black eagle in Albania’s flag. (Both Xhaka and Shaqiri have roots in Kosovo, an ethnically Albanian province that fought a war of
Mohamed Salah is an honorary citizen of the Chechen Republic! That’s right!” Kadyrov wrote on social media. “I gave Mohamed Salah a copy of the order and a pin at a celebratory dinner that I gave in honor of the Egyptian team.”
Salah has always deliberately avoided being made into either a political or religious figure, and CNN reported that he was furious that he had been exposed to the criticism that followed the publication of the original photographs with Kadyrov.
Being honored by Kadyrov has compounded that anger. Salah is believed to be upset because he believes he has not been offered suitable protection by the Egyptian Football Association — which selected Grozny as its training facility — and he is considering whether Monday’s game against Saudi Arabia will be his last for Egypt. He is 26.
MOSCOW — The World Cup was thrust into the combustible mix of politics and soccer — dangerous ground that world soccer takes great pains to avoid — as a growing number of disciplinary proceedings and a star player’s threatened retirement brought several sensitive international flash points to the tournament’s doorstep this weekend.
The crises involved players for several teams and touched on a range of topics: Kosovar independence, Serbian nationalism, a beloved Egyptian striker and a controversial Chechen leader. At least one of the disagreements could potentially force FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, to issue suspensions in the middle of the tournament — possibly affecting which teams advance out of one of the tournament’s first-round groups.
Early Sunday, FIFA announced that its disciplinary committee had opened three more proceedings related to Friday’s testy Switzerland-Serbia match — bringing the total from the game to six. Hours later, it emerged that one of the tournament’s most popular players, the Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah, was considering retiring from his national team in the wake of his interactions with a Chechen politician.
FIFA’s political problems began when the Swiss players Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri both made the so-called double-eagle symbol with their hands after scoring in a 2-1 victory against Serbia. The gesture, made by linking the thumbs and fanning out the fingers on both hands, is a nationalist sign that many with ethnic Albanian roots make to symbolize the black eagle in Albania’s flag. (Both Xhaka and Shaqiri have roots in Kosovo, an ethnically Albanian province that fought a war of
Mohamed Salah is an honorary citizen of the Chechen Republic! That’s right!” Kadyrov wrote on social media. “I gave Mohamed Salah a copy of the order and a pin at a celebratory dinner that I gave in honor of the Egyptian team.”
Salah has always deliberately avoided being made into either a political or religious figure, and CNN reported that he was furious that he had been exposed to the criticism that followed the publication of the original photographs with Kadyrov.
Being honored by Kadyrov has compounded that anger. Salah is believed to be upset because he believes he has not been offered suitable protection by the Egyptian Football Association — which selected Grozny as its training facility — and he is considering whether Monday’s game against Saudi Arabia will be his last for Egypt. He is 26.
