FIFA Committee declares FRANCE 98 a success

The FIFA World Cup Organising Committee acclaimed FRANCE 98 as an overwhelming success when the Committee met on Thursday 9 July to review the competition after 62 of the 64 scheduled matches. The Committee Chairman, Lennart Johansson (Sweden), said this had been a memorable World Cup competition in almost every respect : in terms of the football played, the size of the crowds, the atmosphere at the matches, the quality of the stadia, the general organisation, and many other aspects (including the weather). There had admittedly been problems with regard to tickets and to violence in the cities of two matches, but Mr. Johansson felt these should not be the subject of detailed discussion at the current meeting.

The FIFA President, Joseph S. BLATTER, made special mention of the high standard of the stadia, and especially the quality of the playing surfaces, as well as the attractiveness of the images produced for worldwide television by the host broadcaster, TVRS 98.

The General Director of the French Organising Committee, Jacques LAMBERT, also expressed the CFO’s satisfaction at the way in which the competition had taken place so far.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee chairman, Pablo Porta (SPAIN), praised the World Cup referees and pointed out that the Committee had from time to time used video evidence to help the members to better understand what had happened in the case in point.

The Sports Medicine Committee chairman, Michel d’Hooghe (BELGIUM), reported that all 248 doping tests carried out so far (two players per team per match) had resulted negative.

Media operations at FRANCE 98 were found to have functioned well in most respects, with the media interest in the event surpassing all previous levels, although it was felt that special attention needed to be paid to future developments in this sector.

The chairman of the Referees’ Committee, David Will (SCOTLAND), stated that refereeing standards were considered generally very high, with improvements registered since 1994 and particular progress in connection with the assistant referees. Nevertheless it was agreed to review the principles of referee appointments in future. It was also confirmed that Epifanio Gonzalez Chavez of PARAGUAY would referee the third place match and Said Belqola of MOROCCO the Final.

In his report on security matters, Horst R. Schmidt (GERMANY) stressed how the power of the football community was limited with regard to disturbances outside the stadium, such as those which occurred in MARSEILLE and LENS. He said although FIFA and CFO security personnel had combined well, greater co-operation must still be sought with civil authorities in order to reduce the risk of disturbances in the streets, with tougher measures for proven offenders. FIFA Committee declares FRANCE 98 a success

FIFA Communications Division

PARIS, 09.07.1998