List of 1982 FIFA World Cup controversies

The tournament took place in the backdrop of members of the Italian squad in the recent Serie A scandal, where national players were suspended for match fixing and illegal betting.

## Falklands controversy

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There was some consideration given as to whether England, Northern Ireland and Scotland should withdraw from the tournament due to the Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom. A directive issued by the British sports minister Neil Macfarlane in April, at the start of the conflict, suggested that there should be no contact between British representative teams and Argentina. This directive was not rescinded until August, following the end of hostilities. Neil Macfarlane, the Sports Minister, reported to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that some players and officials were uneasy about participating due to the casualties being suffered by British forces. FIFA advised the British Government that there was no prospect of Argentina (the defending champions) being asked to withdraw. It also became apparent that no other countries would withdraw from the tournament. It was decided to allow the British national teams to participate because it could have been used for propaganda purposes by Argentina, rather than having the intended effect of applying political pressure onto Argentina.

## Doping

Group 2 saw one of the great World Cup upsets on the first day with the 2–1 victory of Algeria over reigning European Champions West Germany.

One Algerian player has come forward to claim that the squad doped.

## Shame of Gijon

Template:Details In the final match in group 2, West Germany met Austria. Algeria had already played their final group game the day before, and West Germany and Austria knew that a West German win by 1 or 2 goals would qualify them both, while a larger German victory would qualify Algeria over Austria, and a draw or an Austrian win would eliminate the Germans. After 10 minutes of all-out attack, West Germany scored through a goal by Horst Hrubesch. After the goal was scored, the two teams kicked the ball around aimlessly for the rest of the match. Chants of "*Fuera, fuera*" ("*Out, out*") were screamed by the Spanish crowd, while angry Algerian supporters waved banknotes at the players. This performance was widely deplored, even by the German and Austrian fans. One German fan was so upset by his team's display that he burned his German flag in disgust. Algeria protested to FIFA, who ruled that the result be allowed to stand; FIFA introduced a revised qualification system at subsequent World Cups in which the final two games in each group were played simultaneously.

## France v Kuwait

In the game between Kuwait and France, with France leading 3–1, France midfielder Alain Giresse scored a goal vehemently contested by the Kuwait team, who had stopped play after hearing a piercing whistle from the stands, which they thought had come from Soviet referee Miroslav Stupar. Play had not yet resumed when Sheikh Fahid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, brother of the Kuwaiti Emir and president of the Kuwaiti Football Association, rushed onto the pitch to remonstrate with the referee. Stupar countermanded his initial decision and disallowed the goal to the fury of the French. Maxime Bossis scored another valid goal a few minutes later and France won 4–1. Stupar lost his international refereeing credentials as a result of this incident, and Al-Sabah received a $10,000 fine.Template:Citation needed

## France and West Germany

Template:Further Template:Main In the second half a long through ball sent French defender Patrick Battiston racing clear towards the German goal. With both Battiston and the lone German defender trying to be the first to reach the ball, Battiston flicked it past German keeper Harald Schumacher from the edge of the German penalty area and Schumacher reacted by jumping up to block. Schumacher didn't seem to go for the ball, however, and clattered straight into the oncoming Battiston – which left the French player unconscious and knocked two of his teeth out. Schumacher's action has been described as "one of history's most shocking fouls". The ball went just wide of the post and Dutch referee Charles Corver deemed Schumacher's tackle on Battiston not to be a foul and awarded a goal kick. Play was interrupted for several minutes while Battiston, still unconscious and with a broken jaw, was carried off the field on a stretcher.

The match is often regarded as one of the best World Cup games of all time despite the controversy.

## Others

* Dubious Spanish goals v Honduras & Yugoslavia
* Disallowed Cameroon goal v Peru

## External links

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* 1982 FIFA World Cup on FIFA.com
* Details at RSSSF
* History of the World Cup-1982
* Planet World Cup – Spain 1982
* FIFA Awards – World Cup 1982 "Golden Ball"
* Special feature on Estadios de España Template:In lang

Template:1982 FIFA World Cup finalists Template:FIFA World Cup

Category:FIFA World Cup tournaments Category:International association football competitions hosted by Spain WorldWorldW

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Template:Cite web
2. ↑ Template:Cite news
3. ↑ "World's worst refereeing decisions", BBC, 5 January 2005 Template:Webarchive
4. ↑ Template:Cite web