FIFA acts on Shah Alam crowd trouble

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia have been issued with a formal warning and a raft of other sanctions from soccer's world governing body Fifa after their World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia last month was abandoned because of crowd trouble.
Fifa took a dim view of the crowd disturbances at the Shah Alam Stadium and announced today a series of penalties against the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), which was hosting the match and so deemed to be responsible for crowd control.
Fifa's disciplinary committee ruled that the match had been deemed to be forfeited by Malaysia, awarding Saudi Arabia a 3-0 win, and Malaysia's next World Cup qualifier at home, against United Arab Emirates on Nov 17, would be played in an empty stadium.
Fifa also fined the FAM 40,000 Swiss Francs (about RM140,000) and issued a warning.
The visiting Saudi Arabia team were leading 2-1 in the Group A Asian qualifier on Sept 8 when play was stopped three minutes from the end after fans launched flares and fireworks on to the pitch.
Players from both teams fled the pitch as thick smoke began filling the ground and did not return.
The match was later abandoned and a report on the incident sent to Fifa.
Malaysia have slipped to 171st in the latest world rankings and are already bottom of the group standings after suffering a record 10-0 loss to UAE, infuriating some local supporters who had threatened to protest during the match. – Reuters