Violence Escalates In Soccer Fifa Expected To Take Tough Stand Against Players

FIFA is likely to take tough disciplinary action after eight players were ejected for violent conduct in four of Wednesday night’s World Cup qualifiers.

The ejected players included stars such as Colombia’s Faustino Asprilla and Paraguay goalkeeper Jose Chilavert, who could face lengthy suspensions for fighting each other after the Colombians were awarded a penalty kick.

FIFA won’t take action until it receives written reports from the match officials. But the on-field violence contradicts the “Fair Play” image FIFA seeks to promote..

“We know that football is a passionate game,” FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said Thursday. “Sometimes it’s difficult to keep your temper in the heat of the action but there are no excuses for such behavior. FIFA can impose harsh sanctions against players and associations. And sometimes it can hit them where it hurts most - and that means money.”

At Asuncion, Paraguay, Chilavert was leaving the field after being expelled for fighting with Asprilla when he was attacked by Colombian forward Victor Aristizabal. That set off more brawling and play was stopped for 8 minutes. Paraguay won 2-1.

At Skopje, Macedonia, Ireland’s Jason McAteer and Macedonia’s Mitko Stojkovski clashed near the end of their game after the Irish midfielder’s foot hit his opponent just below the throat. The incident sparked a brawl involving several players from both teams, including some from the benches.

Both McAteer and Stojkovski, who had earlier converted two penalty kicks, were ejected and the Macedonian had to be escorted off the field by his teammates and officials. Macedonia won the game 3-2.

Argentina ended with only nine players on the field in its game against Bolivia at La Paz.

Nelson Vivas and Gustavo Zapata were ejected for fouls in the second half by Brazilian referee Sidrak Milton Dos Santos, who added 17 minutes of injury time because of several fights.