FIFA won't take action against Germans in Argentina fracas

Jul 2, 2006, 16:46 GMT

Berlin - FIFA said Sunday it would not take any disciplinary action against German players involved in a melee after the quarter- final game against Argentina.

The decision left the Germans free to prepare for Tuesday's World Cup semi-final against Italy without the threat of losing any of their players.

But FIFA spokesman Markus Siegler said the disciplinary committee of football's governing body would look into role of German team manager Oliver Bierhoff and other team officials in the fracas.

'There will be a review of the behaviour of German officials,' he said. 'We are not yet at the point where proceedings could begin, but still reviewing the unpleasant events.'

Argentina reserve player Leandro Cufre was shown a red card for kicking an opponent during the scuffles which broke out on the pitch between players and officials from both teams after Friday's match.

Bierhoff blamed Argentina for the trouble for trying to provoke the Germans during the penalty shoot-out, which the Germans won, giving them a berth in the semi-finals.

'I wanted to calm things down, and then they went for me, too,' Bierhoff said of the ruckus, which broke out when Cufre went for German defender Per Mertesacker with a kick to the groin. 'The whole game had been peppered with provocations,' Bierhoff added.

It all came to a head during the penalty shootout, when the majority German fans among the 72,000 crowd persistently whistled when it was the Argentine players' turn to shoot, while the South Americans tried to faze the Germans by swearing at them.

'But we didn't understand any of that because it was in Spanish,' said Germany captain Michael Ballack. However, he was also not denying that team-mate Tim Borowski had provoked the Argentinians.

'Boro (Borowski) put a finger to his lips before moving off. That will have ruffled them a bit, all right,' Ballack said of the smirking gesture.

The frustration at defeat, inexplicable substitutions - including that of key midfielder Juan Riquelme - by coach Jose Pekerman and their own poor penalty-taking appeared to boil over among the Argentine players in Cufre'a lunge as the Germans celebrated.

In fact, it was not Mertesacker but Borowski who appeared to be the intended target. 'It was unfair, what he did. But he's been punished for it,' said Mertesacker.

'For me, the whole matter's now closed. And where he kicked me doesn't matter any more, either.'

Cufre appeared to try to get away with it without being noticed, but Slovakian referee tracked him down to the substitutes' bench, where the player was red-carded.

He now faces a lengthy playing ban, while disciplinary proceedings have also been opened into team-mate Maxi Rodriguez for attacking Bastian Schweinsteiger.

'I got one on the back of the head,' said Schweinsteiger, who had gone to help Bierhoff out.

Torsten Frings, who also appeared to have been actively involved in the set-to, said: 'We saw that the Argentinians don't know how to behave themselves and are poor losers.'