FIFA defends fair play rule after Senegal pain

FIFA’s head of competitions and events defended the fair play rule on Friday (June 29), which saw Senegal the first country to exit the World Cup based on their accumulation of yellow cards.

“It’s first time it’s been used in a senior World Cup in this way. Obviously what we want to avoid is the drawing of lots. We believe that teams should go forward on their performance and what happens on the pitch, not what happens in the draw bowl,” Colin Smith told a news conference to cap off the end of the 2018 World Cup group stage.

Smith said the rule would be analysed for future World Cups, but he did not fear that countries would try to game the system.

“These are isolated cases because they find themselves in a particular scenario after goal difference, and the various points have been met,” Smith said.

Smith said overall the World Cup was progressing well and credited the organisers for planning.

Local Organising Committee chief Alexey Sorokin also weighed in on Great Britain’s decision to not send a delegation to the tournament to support England, saying, “they’re always welcome.”