ACTUALITE |
03.09.2001
Egypt slams FIFA after World Cup dream dies
CAIRO,
The head of the Egyptian Football Association on Friday accused FIFA of punishing Egypt by their decision not to sanction a replay of a key match that knocked the country out of contention for the World Cup finals.
"The decision bears no relation whatsoever to reality and it`s unfair against Egypt," EFA chief Yusef al-Dahshuri Harb said, quoted by his country`s MENA news agency.
Egypt had wanted FIFA to order a replay of their African zone Group C match against Algeria at a neutral venue after their July clash was hit by crowd trouble.
The 1-1 draw in the east Algerian city of Annaba was marred by the burning of an Egyptian flag, rock-throwing spectators and a 15-minute second-half stoppage.
Egypt needed to win for a chance of going to the finals in Japan and South Korea next year.
After studying video footage of the match, FIFA decided Friday not to replay the match because none of the objects thrown had hit any of the players.
"FIFA has punished Egypt twice now. The first time was in 1993 when they decided to replay the Egypt-Zimbabwe (World Cup qualifying) match in Lyon," Harb said.
Egypt won the original Cairo match 2-1, but were eliminated from the 1994 World Cup after only managing a draw in the Lyon replay, which was ordered after rocks were thrown at the Zimbabwe substitutes` bench.
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