F.I.F.A. bans standing at matches

Press, 29 July 1989, Page 14

F.I.F.A. bans standing at matches

PA Wellington A decision by the International Football Federation (F.1.F.A.) banning standing at any matches in the 1994 World Cup soccer tournament should have little effect on New Zealand, the country’s football association said yesterday. The seats-only decision taken by F.I.F.A.’s executive committee applies to all qualifying ties from late 1992 to the finals in the United States.

The New Zealand Football Association deputy chairman, Harry Dods, said he was not surprised at the new rule, adding that he did not expect it to pose major problems for his organisation. Seating at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, the scene of most of New Zealand’s World Cup ties, would be increased to 15,000 for next year’s Commonwealth Games, he said. “It’s not very often that we would have 15,000 at a game. But if interest was greater than that, we would probably

come to an agreement with F.I.F.A. that we would sell no more than 15,000 tickets. “Otherwise, probably the only other thing we would have to do is make sure everyone at a match sits down.” Mr Dods said he did not expect any big problems either with Q.E. II Stadium in Christchurch. Announcing the decision, the F.I.F.A. general secretary, Sepp Blatter, said no standing room would be permitted when the mandatory rule came into force.

“All seats must be numbered and no benches will be allowed,” he said. The committee also decided that from 1993 all club and international matches defined as “high risk” by the countries’ national associations must also be seats-only. While the NZFA is expecting no major difficulties, the ruling could cause trouble in other countries, such as in Scotland, where Glasgow’s Hampden Park has a 73,000 capacity, but only 11,000 seats.