ZURICH — Fifa has launched an investigation after former England manager Peter Taylor’s Bahrain football side beat Indonesia 10-0 in a World Cup qualifier.
Bahrain needed to overturn a nine-goal deficit to stand any chance of progressing to the next stage. However, their hopes were dashed by group rivals Qatar, who equalised for a late 2-2 draw in Iran.
“Fifa will conduct a routine examination of this game and its result,” a spokesman told BBC Sport. “[This is due to] the unusual outcome in relation to the result expectation and head-to-head history – and in the interests of maintaining unequivocal confidence in our game.”
Fifa has refused to rule out any foul play in the early stages of the investigation into Wednesday’s match. The world governing body is still waiting for the match referee’s report before continuing their probe.
It insists no concerns have been raised by officials from other nations about the result.
BBC Sport understands Indonesia may have been forced to field an inexperienced team after a number of senior players were thought to have been banned by the country’s football authorities for competing in a breakaway league.
“This is a country which has had some severe instability in its football infrastructure for over 15 months. It’s an issue Fifa is aware of,” the spokesman added.
Former Leicester and Bradford manager Taylor was appointed as Bahrain boss last July. The 59-year-old led England in one friendly against Italy in 2001, when he appointed David Beckham as captain. —Reuters
