Hungary must play their next home World Cup qualifier behind closed doors and pay a fine of 200,000 Swiss francs (£158,000) as punishment for the racist abuse their fans aimed at England players in Budapest this month.
Fifa’s disciplinary committee handed down the sanction after a section of supporters targeted Raheem Sterling and Jude Bellingham with monkey chants during England’s 4-0 win in a World Cup qualifier on 2 September. The penalty of a second game without spectators was suspended period of two years.
In July Hungary were ordered to play their next three Uefa home competition matches without supporters after incidents of racism and homophobia at Euro 2020, with one of those games suspended for two years. Those sanctions will apply in the Nations League next year.
Hungary’s next World Cup qualifier is at home to Albania on 9 October. Fifa said the punishment covered “racist words and actions, throwing of objects, lighting of fireworks [and] blocked stairways”. Plastic cups were hurled at England players during the match.
“Fifa’s position remains firm and resolute in rejecting any form of racism and violence as well as any other form of discrimination or abuse,” the world governing body said. “Fifa takes a clear zero tolerance stance against such abhorrent behaviour in football.”
Tony Burnett, the chief executive of Kick It Out, said the anti-discrimination organisation welcomed the sanctions but that they did not go far enough. “The Hungarian Football Federation was already serving a Uefa ban, so we know that punishments like this do not effectively deter fans who abused England players earlier in the month from repeating their behaviour.
“We need the footballing authorities to assume genuine responsibility for player safety, both from physical and discriminatory abuse. This means applying or duplicating sanctions that result from discrimination during competitions in other federations, as well as assessing the risk posed to players during games held in specific nations. For those countries that have proven unable to control fans’ appalling behaviour, excluding them from competing at major tournaments should not be off the table.”
Quick GuideHow do I sign up for sport breaking news alerts?
Show
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
Kick It Out’s head of development, Troy Townsend, tweeted: “What does zero tolerance approach even mean? Words that read good in print but we’ll never actually adhere to them. Anyway, we have our own problems and don’t even go this far with punishments, so best leave alone.”
The fine dwarfs the 20,000 Swiss francs the Hungarian FA was ordered to pay by Fifa in 2017 for homophobic chants directed at Cristiano Ronaldo during a World Cup qualifier against Portugal.
In 2018 Fifa fined the Russian Football Union 30,000 Swiss francs for racist abuse directed at France players during a pre-World Cup friendly.