Tim Cahill of Australia (center) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Syria during their 2018 World Cup football qualifying match against Syria played in Sydney on Oct 10, 2017. (WILLIAM WEST / AFP)
CANBERRA - FIFA is investigating Australian forward Tim
Cahill for a "sponsored" goal celebration following his match-winning header
against Syria on Tuesday night.
Football's governing body confirmed on
Friday that it is investigating whether Cahill, 37, breached sponsorship rules
when he celebrated his extra-time winner, his second goal of the match, by
making a "T" with his arms.
In a social media post which has since been
deleted, Australian online travel agency TripaDeal, posted a photo of Cahill
celebrating his goal, his 50th for the Socceroos, with the caption: "Did you
catch Tim Cahill, our new brand ambassador, doing the ... 'T' after he scored
the winning goal last night? Congratulations Tim!"
Cahill replied to
the post before posting on his own social media and tagging the company,
confirming their partnership.
FIFA said "FIFA is reviewing and
analyzing the reports from the referees and the match commissioners for all
matches in FIFA competitions," the body said in a statement obtained by the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"Events which require further
attention may be communicated accordingly."
In 2012, Danish striker
Niklas Bendtner was fined US$100,000 for exposing underwear made by
one of his personal sponsors when celebrating a goal in international
competition.
The FIFA investigation capped off one of the most dramatic
weeks in Australian football history.
Cahill's brace of headers on
Tuesday booked Australia's place in a 2018 World Cup playoff with Honduras which
has been set for November.
The morning after the match, in which
underdogs Syria took the lead within 10 minutes, Australian media reported that
Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou was set to resign in November regardless of
whether the team qualified for the World Cup or not.
The Football
Federation of Australia (FFA) did not confirm or deny reports of Postecoglou's
resignation, saying the focus was on the upcoming World Cup playoff.
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