FIFA to investigate Bahrain's 10-0 World Cup win

(AP)
Bahrain's 10-0 victory over a weakened Indonesia team in a World Cup qualifying match will be studied in a "routine" investigation, FIFA said Thursday.

Bahrain's win raised suspicions because it needed to make up a nine-goal deficit on rival Qatar in the group standings to have a chance of advancing to the next round.

It also needed Qatar to lose its last match Wednesday, but the Qataris scored an 83rd-minute equalizer to get a 2-2 draw in Iran and advanced to the next stage of the Asian qualifying tournament ahead of Bahrain.
"FIFA security will conduct a routine examination of this game and its result," football's world governing body said in a statement.



FIFA said an initial probe was justified "given the unusual outcome against results expectation and head-to-head history, and in the interests of maintaining unequivocal confidence in our game."

Indonesia goalkeeper Samsidar was sent off after just two minutes, and Bahrain took the lead from the resulting penalty. The hosts also scored a second penalty in the first half as they took a 4-0 lead by halftime, and continued to pour in goals after the break.

Indonesia had lost all five previous group matches, conceding 16 goals while scoring just three.
It also fielded several inexperienced international players in Bahrain after suspending others who play for clubs in the breakaway Indonesian Super League.

The Indonesian football association (PSSI) recognizes the Indonesian Premier League, and the dispute jeopardized the participation of ISL winner Persipura Jayapura in the Asian Champions League last month. Persipura required a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling in order to face Adelaide United.

The PSSI has been in turmoil in recent years, and launched an unsuccessful bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

FIFA removed Indonesia from the contest midway through the bid process when football officials failed to persuade the government to provide hosting guarantees. (nvn)


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