A Warning To Indonesia

ZURICH - FIFA has kicked Myanmar out of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup as punishment for crowd violence at a 2014 qualifier in July.

Fans threw stones and water bottles onto the field during Myanamar's game against Oman on July 28, forcing the referee to abandon the match.

Oman was leading 2-0 at the time and was awarded the victory by that score. Oman, which also won the first leg 2-0, advanced to the next round of Asian qualifying on 4-0 aggregate.

FIFA's disciplinary committee says the Myanmar football federation failed to prevent "improper conduct of supporters" and "is excluded from taking part in the matches of the preliminary competition" for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The federation was also fined 25,000 Swiss Francs (S$35,989).

COMMENT - Indonesia's World Cup Qualifier against Bahrain last month was held up for about 20 minutes after some fans through flares and water bottles on the pitch by where their subs were warming. This is not the first time it has happened but it remains to be seen whether FIFA have the balls to take action against one of the bigger members. Coming down heavily on the likes of Brunei and Myanmar is one thing...

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