World Cup 2018: Fifa hands Argentina hefty fine for violence and homophobic chanting

Fifa’s policy is to hold football federations responsible for fan behaviour

Fifa have fined the Argentina Football Association (AFF) £80,000 after fans sang homophobic chants during their 3-0 defeat against Croatia.

It is Fifa policy to hold football associations responsible for their fans, and Argentina’s hefty fine comes after fans were caught singing homophobic chants and causing violence in their defeat against Croatia in their second Group D match.

A Fifa statement confirms that supporters had been involved in “fights, throwing objects and homophobic and insulting chants, as well as breaching the Media and Marketing Regulations for failing to attend a flash interview”.

In addition to the violence and homophobic chanting, Argentina failed to fulfil their obligation to mandatory post-match interviews after losing to Croatia.

Argentina were beaten 3-0 by Croatia (EPA)

Shocking footage went viral appearing to show Argentine fans at the Nizhny Novgorod stadium fighting opposing supporters.

Argentina’s security minister Patricia Bullrich called for Russia to punish the fans involved by taking their Fan ID that permits them inside World Cup stadiums. She also urged Russian authorities to “deport” four individuals accused of fighting.

Fifa have already fined the Mexican FA £7,600 after their fans sang homophobic chants in their 1-0 win over Germany. “Fifa has a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination,” a spokesperson said.

Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri received a warning and a fine of 10,000 Swiss frans (£7,600) for their gestures of an Albanian national symbol in the celebrations of their goals against Serboa. Their captain Stephan Lichtsteiner was also fined 5,000 Swiss frans (£3,800).

Argentina drew against Iceland in their opening group game and a defeat against Croatia left them scrambling to qualify ahead of their final game against Nigeria.