FA boss Worawi grilled at parliamentary inquiry
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Thai Football Association president Worawi Makudi went on the defensive yesterday when he was questioned at a parliamentary committee inquiry into the organisational problems at the recent Fifa Futsal World Cup.
Facing an inquiry stemming from Fifa’s decision not to grant approval to the newly built Bangkok Futsal Arena for the use in the showpiece tournament, Worawi insisted the event had been a success, backing his claim with evidence from world soccer’s governing body itself.
“We received praise from both Fifa and the AFC [Asian Football Confederation] for a successful hosting of the Cup. Fifa understood the situation regarding the many obstacles we faced during tournament preparations.
“We have documents from those two organisations praising us for our efforts in hosting the event. If the committee would like to see, we’re ready to hand them over. Since the tournament ended, we have received only positive words [on its organisation].
“Regarding people’s concern that the stadium farce will damage the image of the country, I can only confirm that Fifa never mentioned it negatively,” said the FA boss, who also sits on Fifa’s executive committee.
Turning to the problem-plagued Arena, built at a cost of Bt1.2 billion, Worawi reiterated that he was not in a position to give answers on the issue since his office was not directly responsible for the construction, which was dogged by delays.
“The previous government assigned the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority to take charge of the stadium construction. We only acted as the coordinators. So I think it would be more appropriate to ask the BMA about what happened.”
While expressing his gratitude at the opportunity to air his views, Worawi also complained of rough handling by the committee, who ordered him to appear after he missed the initial hearing.
“I didn’t attend the hearing last time but I wrote to the committee to explain my reasons for not being able to attend. In the legal process, we are permitted to postpone a court appointment. I want to say I’m not a defendant,” said Worawi.
Zenit hit hard
The Russian football federation yesterday came down hard on reigning champions Zenit St Petersburg, ruling that they lost their last match 3-0 against Dynamo Moscow after it was abandoned due to crowd trouble.
The western Russian side were told to pay a 600,000-rouble ($19,000) fine for the illegal use of firecrackers and abusive chanting. They were also ordered to play their next two domestic league matches behind the closed doors.
The sanction came after Zenit’s match away to Dynamo Moscow on Saturday was abandoned in the 36th minute after home goalkeeper Anton Shunin was injured by a firecracker thrown by the visiting team’s fans.
Dynamo had taken the lead in the 27th minute of the game through a Vladimir Granat freekick but referee Alexei Nikolaev called a halt to the game nine minutes later after Shunin was hurt.
