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Indomitable Lions endangered (18.04.2004)
FIFA penalty for uniforms hurts Cameroon hopes
By Mark Zeigler
In what could rank as one of the harshest penalties in sports history, soccer`s international governing body yesterday severely jeopardized the chances of African power Cameroon qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.
Essentially for wearing an unauthorized uniform.
Cameroon unveiled the controversial one-piece outfits in January during the opening round of the African Nations Cup, the continent`s biennial championship for national teams. Although FIFA does not run the tournament, it objected to the "UniQT" bodysuits by Puma and demanded Cameroon cease wearing them, saying they violated rules requiring separate jerseys and shorts.
Then the Indomitable Lions, as Cameroon men`s national team is called, trotted onto the field for their quarterfinal match against Nigeria . . . wearing the red, green and yellow singlets.
FIFA`s disciplinary committee announced its sanctions yesterday: a $154,000 fine and the loss of six points in the final stage of African qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.
The monetary penalty is enormous for an African nation, the equivalent of millions of dollars in a developed nation. But it is the six points that could hurt most, undercutting Cameroon`s chances of reaching its fifth straight and sixth overall World Cup.
A win is worth three points in the standings (you get a point for a tie, zero for a loss), and losing six points is significant enough that Cameroon still could fail to qualify for 2006 even if it goes undefeated in its six-team, 10-match group that opens in June. Also in Cameroon`s group are Egypt, Ivory Coast, Libya, Sudan and Benin.
In reaching the 2002 World Cup, Cameroon won its group by six points, but the other African qualifying groups were decided by one, four and five points and another ended in a tie. In 1998, Cameroon won its group by four points.
"The (Cameroon soccer) association had given assurances that the team would
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wearauthorized playing kit in the knock-out phases (of the African Nations Cup)," FIFA said in a statement yesterday. "Despite this agreement, Cameroon subsequently wore the same equipment in the quarterfinals."
Cameroon officials did not immediately comment, but you can imagine what they`re thinking.
Puma is the national team`s apparel sponsor, and FIFA has a multiyear contract worth tens of millions of dollars with rival adidas. FIFA President Sepp Blatter ran for re-election in 2002 against Issa Hayatou in a nasty campaign that included allegations of Blatter bribing his way into office four years earlier; and Hayatou is from Cameroon.
Could this be payback? Or perhaps a message to anyone else bold enough to challenge Blatter`s supremacy?
To which FIFA merely stated: "The punishment was imposed as a result of Cameroon`s failure to comply with the equipment requirements of Law 4 of the Laws of the Game."
Law 4 lists as basic equipment "a jersey or shirt" and "shorts." It makes no specific stipulation that they must be separate pieces of clothing, but FIFA evidently interprets it that way.
It isn`t the first time Cameroon`s Puma-designed uniforms have run afoul of FIFA. Two years earlier, the Indomitable Lions wore sleeveless tops at the African Nations Cup that FIFA quickly banned before they could be used in the 2002 World Cup.
The "UniQT" uses Lycra-like fabric, an elastic waistband and features zippers on the tops of the shoulders. It also has what Puma calls "lion claw tears" along the sides that are made of a mesh material designed to help ventilation.
"This playing kit issue has simply taken on ridiculous proportions," Cameroon star defender Rigobert Song said before Cameroon`s quarterfinal match against Nigeria in the African Nations Cup. "It is, without a doubt, bitterly disappointing that we have to deal with this kind of nonsense in the middle of a top competition."
Cameroon, the two-time defending champion, went on to lose 2-1.
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