FIFA fair play award to Iran, the US, and Northern
Ireland
Zurich, 20 January 1999, (FIFA) - The FIFA Fair Play Prize for 1998
has been awarded jointly to the national associations of Iran, the United
States and Northern Ireland.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter said the joint award was proof of football?s
role as a mediating force. "In the middle of the World Cup, the Iranians
and Americans provided a powerful demonstration of the effects of fair
play when they not only joined in the spirit of FIFA's Fair Play Day on
21 June by posing together for the photographers before their match in
Lyon, but also exchanged flowers and gifts among the players," said
Blatter.
"The award, like that to Northern Ireland, is also intended to
be symbolic for many other countries which have found themselves in a comparable
situation."
The Irish Football Association was honoured for its continuing efforts
to reunite the Catholic and Protestant communities. This was exemplified
in the match in Belfast on 30 November between Cliftonville and Linfield,
the first time the teams had been allowed to play at Cliftonville?s Solitude
Stadium for almost 30 years because of sectarian tensions.
The Fair Play trophies will be presented at the World Player of the
Year gala evening in Barcelona on Monday 1 February. Several other awards
will also be presented on the same occasion, including the FIFA Fair Play
Prize for the 1998 World Cup (jointly to England and France. Other awards
include that to the FIFA World Player of the Year 1998, the best player
and top goal-scorer of France 98, and the best team of the year.
The gala evening will also honour the latest inductees into the International
Football Hall of Champions, and the top players in Spain of the last quarter
century. The event is co-hosted by FIFA, the Hall of Champions, and the
Spanish football magazine Don Bal\163n, which this year celebrates its
25th anniversary.
Thanks to Payman Arabshahi
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