Germany midfielder Torsten Frings has been suspended for Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal against Italy, world soccer governing body Fifa said on Monday.
Frings was barred after the Fifa disciplinary committee viewed TV pictures, which show him hitting an Argentinian player in the face in an on-pitch fracas following Germany’s win in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinal.
Fifa said he can definitely not play in the semifinal but can return for the final on Sunday should Germany beat Italy.
However, any recurrence of bad behaviour in the next six months will see him banned for another match, a Fifa spokesperson told Agence France-Presse.
”Frings is suspended for two matches, but one is a suspended punishment,” the spokesperson said.
Frings is likely to be replaced for the match in Dortmund by Borussia Dortmund’s defensive midfielder Sebastian Kehl.
New TV pictures of the confrontation at the end of the tense quarterfinal in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium came to light on Sunday, Fifa’s head of communications Markus Siegler told a media briefing ahead of the verdict.
Siegler denied that the Italian football federation had played any role in bringing the pictures to Fifa’s attention, saying: ”There was no attempt from the Italian federation to incite Fifa to do something.
”This footage was shown on a public channel in Germany.”
The 29-year-old all-action Werder Bremen midfielder had protested his innocence, saying he was only defending himself against punches from Argentinian players.
”I did nothing,” he told a German regional newspaper.
”I found myself mixed up in a melee where fists were raining down everywhere. I myself was hit twice. It was at that point I protected myself, and put my hand in front of me, but I did nothing else.”
Argentinian player Julio Cruz, though, was quoted in the Italian media as saying he hadn’t felt a thing.
”I did not see the punch from him, or else I did not feel it,” said the Inter Milan striker.
Fifa said it was not unusual for new pictures to come to light several days after the incident.
The fracas was apparently sparked when Argentinian player Leonardo Cufre kicked German defender Per Mertesacker following the shootout.
Slovak referee Lubos Michel gave Cufre a red card for his part in the fracas.
Cufre and another Argentinian player, Maxi Rodriguez, have until Wednesday to give their version of what happened to Fifa, who will decide if they will be banned for future international matches. — AFP
