June 25 – FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against two German team officials for gloating towards the Swedish bench after the defending world champions’ last-gasp Group F victory on Saturday.
Swedish manager Janne Andersson was unhappy with what he viewed as deliberate provocation after German media officer Ulrich Voigt and a staff member of the DFB national team office, Georg Behlau, ran towards the Swedish bench pumping their fists after Toni Kroos’s spectacular 95th-minute winner that saved his country’s blushes and pulled them back from the brink of elimination.
“Some of the German leaders of the team celebrated by running in our direction and rubbing into our faces by making gestures and that really got me annoyed and angry,” said Andersson.
“There were many people on our bench that were annoyed. We fought it out for 95 minutes and when the final whistle goes you shake hands and leave. So I was very angry.”
A FIFA statement said: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has opened disciplinary proceedings against the German officials Ulrich Voigt and Georg Behlau for incidents at the end of the match Germany v Sweden.”
German national team spokesman Jens Grittner said the action of Voigt and Behlau was “a mistake they both sincerely regret.”
“Within a few minutes, they apologised to the organisational lead of the Swedish team and also to Sweden’s coach. Nobody was punched or kicked by them, no swear words or curses were exchanged, but still, the behaviour was wrong. The DFB as a whole regrets the incident and apologised to the Swedish team and delegation.”
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