FIFA issued a formal warning to a Croatia player who praised Ukraine in a video after his team beat World Cup host Russia.
The video shows Croatia defender Domagoj Vida shouting "glory to Ukraine" before the retired ex-player Ognjen Vukojevic adds "this win is for Dynamo and Ukraine ... go Croatia." The statement angered many Russian social media users amid the political tension between Russia and Ukraine.
Vida and Vukojevic played together at Ukrainian club Dynamo Kiev. Vida was a star of Croatia's win on penalty kicks over Russia on Saturday, scoring a header in extra time and converting a penalty kick in the shootout.
"We can confirm that FIFA's disciplinary committee has sent a warning to the player Domagoj Vida due to his video statement following the 2018 FIFA World Cup match between Russia and Croatia," FIFA, the sport's international governing body, said Sunday.
It wasn't immediately clear whether Vida and Vukojevic intended the video to be made public, or if it was later uploaded to YouTube by someone else.
Vida told the Russian newspaper Sport Express he meant the video to be a personal message.
"There's no politics in football. It's a joke for my friends from Dynamo Kiev," he was quoted as saying. "I love Russians and I love Ukrainians."
Tensions have been high since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine's government accuses Russia of arming pro-Russian separatists who control part of the east of the country, and of backing up the separatist groups with Russian military forces.
Spain's coach out
Fernando Hierro is out as coach of Spain's national team after less than a month in charge and a disappointing four-game run at the World Cup.
The Spanish federation said Sunday it wanted "to thank Fernando Hierro for his commitment and for assuming the responsibility of being in charge of the national team during some extraordinary situations."
Hierro got promoted from sporting director to the top job two days before Spain opened the tournament against Portugal. New federation president Luis Rubiales was incensed that previous coach Julen Lopetegui had agreed to take charge at Real Madrid after the World Cup without giving the federation sufficient notice. Lopetegui was summarily fired despite a 20-game unbeaten streak that had made Spain one of the favorites coming into the tournament.
Spain drew with Portugal and Morocco and beat Iran to get out of its group, then lost to Russia on penalty kicks in the round of 16.
The federation said Hierro had declined to return to his previous role as sporting director.
Russian retires
Defender Sergei Ignashevich announced his retirement from soccer after Russia lost to Croatia in the World Cup quarterfinals Saturday.
The 38-year-old holds the Russian record for most international appearances with 127, and his last act on a soccer field was to convert a penalty kick in Saturday's shootout loss to Croatia.
He said he would have retired as professional soccer player earlier if not for the World Cup. He plans to become a coach.
Ignashevich started all five of the host nation's games at the World Cup, as Russia generally played a deep defensive line that compensated for his lack of speed.
Behaving badly
England has to win two more games to bring the World Cup home, but the enthusiasm some soccer fans displayed after their team advanced to the semifinals met international expectations.
Emergency services personnel complained Sunday about the "disgraceful" behavior of a small number of supporters who celebrated England's victory over Sweden by dancing on top of an ambulance and badly damaging it.
Sgt. Wayne Baker of West Yorkshire police tweeted that the behavior made him "anything but proud to be British." The ambulance used as a dance floor Saturday was out of service.
But retailer IKEA took in stride the England fans who bounced and rolled on furniture and kicked items at the Swedish-founded company's east London store.
The company said it was "aware" of the incident and congratulated England on its victory.
Sports on 07/09/2018