By Mark Baber
April 18 – FIFA are reportedly “reviewing” the circumstances in which David Beckham, Fabio Capello and others were involved in a football match held in Kuwait on December 18 in defiance of a FIFA ban on any sporting contact with the country. The game was played two months after FIFA imposed a ban on sporting contact with Kuwait under the slogan #wewillplay which was prominently displayed around the pitch and as a hashtag on Twitter. The game, attended by members of the Kuwaiti Royal family, marked the inauguration of the 60,000-seater Jaber Al-Ahmad stadium which was packed for the occasion.
The Kuwaiti All-Star XI included members of the Kuwaiti National Team who had played in recent internationals whilst the ‘Football Champions XI’, apparently pulled together by organisers the Football Champions Tour LLP which is associated with the UK’s JAJ Communications Limited and Portugal’s Icerock Eventos & Communicacao Unipessoal LDA included David Beckham, Luis Figo, Ronaldinho, Michel Salgado, Carles Puyol, Jamie Carragher, David James, Alessandro Nesta, Gianluca Zambrotta, Alessandro Del Piero, Roberto Carlos, Deco, Andriy Shevchenko, Robert Pires, Jens Lehmann, Dwight Yorke and Mohammed Aboutrika. (Ronaldinho apparently did not play in the 75 minute game but was on the bench).
The game was officiated by former FIFA referee Markus Merk after Pierluigi Collina dropped out.
The Kuwaiti team played in a blue strip, (not the national side’s similar UHL Sport sponsored kit), with the Football Champions XI playing in individually designed white shirts. Both side’s shirts featured the Nike swoosh.
After FIFA had issued a global alert warning against playing in the game, a number of players who had been scheduled to take part reportedly dropped out including Steven Gerrard, Andrea Pirlo and Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Despite the widespread publicity around the Kuwait ban, and FIFA specifically warning its members against participation in the game, the Mail on Sunday reports there is “no suggestion that Beckham and the others wilfully defied FIFA. It is believed the message from FIFA was not distributed effectively.” Luis Figo who last year ran for the FIFA presidency, didn’t follow the edict from the governing body.
According to the Mail on Sunday, FIFA’s new president Gianni Infantino may be embarrassed by the affair as he paraded some of those who participated in the match as his supporters and FIFA commented on the matter saying: “In regard to the Football Champions Tour [of which the Kuwait game was a part], FIFA was assured by the organisers at the time that it is a ‘private event’ where ‘no active players, coaches or referees’ participate. This matter is currently being further reviewed by FIFA.”
Updated April 19: A Football Champions Tour spokesperson told Insideworldfootball: “Football Champions Tour reached out to FIFA to ensure that we were compliant and asked for their guidelines before the match in Kuwait took place. When we received the FIFA circulars we assured them that no active players, coaches or referees were to take part in a privately organised football match celebrating a stadium opening and various other CSR activities including a hospital visit and a clinic with children. We submitted the list of participants to FIFA and were informed they would get back to us if need be, we heard nothing further.”
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