‘No change in fair play rule’

MOSCOW: FIFA said it had no plans to change its fair play criteria that allowed Japan to qualify for the last 16 at the expense of Senegal in controversial circumstances.

Japan and Senegal were both locked on four points in Group H with identical goal differences and the same number of goals scored, but the Asian side went through to the next round on Thursday after collecting fewer yellow cards in the group stage. In a farcical end to Japan’s 1-0 loss to Poland, the Japanese players slowed to walking pace and hardly a single tackle was made. Both teams were booed from the pitch in Volgograd.