Fifa fined the NFF 1,000 Swiss francs ($1,270; 950) after determining that the federation had failed to ensure proper "order and security", particularly following the "throwing of objects" by spectators during the game. The incident was deemed a violation under Article 17.2.b and Article 17 of the Fifa disciplinary code.
Germany were met with a lot of criticism for their gesture in Qatar, but Jurgen Mittag, a professor of sports politics at the German Sport University Cologne, believes had they made the quarterfinals things might have been different. "But as it was, they were met with a great deal of ridicule because they were symbolically strong but sportingly weak," Mittag told DW.
Fifa said the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) had forged birth certificates to make it look like the players' grandparents were born in Malaysia. This, the body said, "constitutes, pure and simple, a form of cheating". But FAM said the discrepancies arose from an "administrative error" and that it would appeal Fifa's penalties. It maintained that the players were "legitimate Malaysian citizens".
