RI, Thailand slapped with hefty cash fines
RI, Thailand slapped with hefty cash fines
HANOI (Agencies): Thailand and Indonesia, which both tried to lose to the other in their Tiger Cup match earlier this week, were each fined US$40,000 by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) on Friday.
The regional body governing soccer in South East Asia imposed the fine after Indonesia deliberately lost 3-2 to Thailand with a blatant last-minute own goal on Monday.
AFF general secretary Paul Mony Samuel said they would be ratifying the decision taken earlier in the week by the Vietnamese Football Federation's tournament committee, the local organizers of the event, to fine both sides equally.
Both teams are planning to appeal the decision while the ASEAN will be looking at the rules of the competition to ensure there is no repeat of the farcical scenes that ruined the match as a genuine contest.
The matter is also due to be brought up at the executive committee meeting of the Asian Football Confederation, to be held in Kuala Lumpur next Friday.
In the event neither team progressed to the final. Singapore defeated Indonesia 2-1 in the first semifinal while Vietnam beat Thailand 3-0.
Singapore and Vietnam will play in Saturday's final in Hanoi while the Thailand and Indonesia meet again as losing semifinalists in the third-place play-off game in Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnam head coach Alfred Riedl said earlier on Friday the tremendous pressure to win the Tiger Cup could hurt the team's chances.
"I hope that our players have the crowd at their backs but not on their shoulders," said Riedl of his team for the final.
"When a crowd is shouting, the players push to the front. Everybody wants to score a goal and nobody is left behind (to defend)," the Austrian told a press conference.
Happy with his team's upset victory of Thailand on Thursday, Riedl said the crowd made it difficult for his players to keep their cool on the pitch.
The Tiger Cup has become a national obsession in Vietnam, where each victory has unleashed greater celebrations.
"Every match we are under more pressure, because people expect more and more," he said.
"We will face a very strong opponent, we are not sure to win," Reidl said of Singapore, which held Vietnam to a scoreless draw in the first round of the competition last week.