After Rüdiger incident: FIFA initiates disciplinary proceedings
Following the incident involving DFB defense chief Antonio Rüdiger, FIFA has initiated disciplinary proceedings against Gustavo Cabral of Mexican club CF Pachuca.
Antonio Rüdiger and Gustavo Cabral clashed. picture alliance / ZUMAPRESS.com
Cabral allegedly racially abused Rüdiger towards the end of the match between Real Madrid and Pachuca at the Club World Cup last Sunday.
"Following an evaluation of the match reports, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has initiated proceedings against CF Pachuca player Gustavo Cabral in relation to the incident between him and Antonio Rüdiger of Real Madrid during the FIFA Club World Cup match on June 22 in Charlotte," the world governing body said on Tuesday.
Substitute Rüdiger, making his comeback after several weeks out injured, clashed with Pachuca's Gustavo Cabral in stoppage time. After a brief exchange between Rüdiger and Brazilian referee Ramon Abatti Abel, the referee made the anti-racism gesture with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
This briefly interrupted the game, as stipulated in FIFA's multi-stage protocol. Shortly thereafter, the match was restarted and completed with a referee's ball. After the final whistle, another scuffle broke out between Rüdiger and Cabral, and the German international left the pitch, visibly upset.
Cabral rejected the accusations of racism, stating that Rüdiger had misunderstood his words. He had merely called him a "coward"—the Spanish phrase he used was merely similar to another with racist undertones.
Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso backed his player after the match: "In football, there is no tolerance for something like this. If it happened, there must be consequences. Antonio told us his side of the story, and we believe him. An investigation is now underway."
