FIFA appoints security officer for October 12 affair with Mexico
By Shaun Fuentes
Bermuda Football Association General Secretary David Sabir as been appointed by FIFA to serve as the Security Officer for this country’s all important 2006 World Cup qualifying match against Mexico scheduled for the Hasely Crawford Stadium at 8pm on Wednesday October 12.
FIFA made the appointment due to the fact that match holds much significance with the outcome possibly determining the fourth place finisher in CONCACAF to go through to the playoffs with Asia for a World Cup spot.
FIFA Vice President Jack Warner specifically mentioned on Tuesday as well, the extreme importance in ensuring that all security measures are in place for the event.
Sabir will arrive here on October 3 for a site inspection the following day and will depart on October 5 after making his recommendations. He will then return on October 12 “to ensure that all FIFA’s recommendations for safety and security are complied with,” Warner told TTFF Media.
Sabir also gave an outline of the requirements for the “Big Match” on October 12 for which 24,000 tickets will be on sale at $200 (covered stands) and $100 (uncovered).
“It is imperative that the following personnel review these Guidelines ahead of my visit and come to the meeting prepared to outline what will be in place for the match. Please advise all concerned that FIFA has taken a decision that requires our utmost assurance that the highest safety and security standards are deployed for this match,” Sabir stated
Among the guidelines stated by FIFA include : Police - Roads leading to and around the stadium (traffic control); Cordon around the stadium (crowd control, required number of officers); Stadium Security - Gate management (ticket control); VIP Entrance; Internal Security (crowd control and Venue management); Communication Officer - Venue announcements in case of emergency situations, etc; First Aid Personnel- Available to spectators and players (in case of emergency)
Event coordinator Peter O’Connor stressed that all will be done to ensure that the event is a well managed one.
“Nothing will be taken for granted and the public and most importantly the teams should be made to feel safe come October 12. We have had good working relationships with the various services as the Police, Fire and Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force and we expect no less, especially for this occasion,” O’Connor said.
The match on October 12 will play on the same day that Guatemala (eight points), also vying for the fourth place, will be meeting Costa Rica in Guatemala City. Before that, T&T (seven points) will take on Panama in Panama City on October 8 while Guatemala will travel to Mexico on the same day.
Meantime, the teams battling for the CONCACAF fourth spot will meet either Bahrain or Uzbekistan which are currently locked in battle for the Asian fifth spot.
The playoff between Uzbekistan and Bahrain is to be replayed next month
FIFA have confirmed that European referees Massimo Busacca of Switzerland and Graham Poll of England will be in charge of the playoff between the two countries. Busacca will be the man in the middle when the teams meet in a replay of the first leg in Tashkent on October 8, while Poll will officiate in the second leg in Manama four days later.
FIFA decided that the tie would be replayed after a technical error by referee Toshimitsu Yoshida during the original first leg in Tashkent on September 3. Yoshida disallowed a penalty converted by Server Djeparov in the first half for encroachment but then erroneously awarded an indirect free-kick to Bahrain instead of a retake of the penalty.
Uzbekistan protested the decision, requesting that they be awarded a 3-0 win, but FIFA decided to void the result, a 1-0 win for the Uzbeks, and ordered that the whole tie be replayed in October,
The first leg at Tashkent’s Pakhtakor Stadium on October 8 will kick off at the same time as the original match at 17:05 hrs, but due to the Islamic fasting month, the second leg at Bahrain’s National Stadium in Manama will now be played at 22:00 hrs.
Then the winner will then travel to CONCACAF to meet the fourth place team from this region on November 12 before the return leg in Asia four days later.
Allyuh men better be on your best behaviour for this one
