Lausanne: The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) fined the Hong Kong Football Federation after local fans booed and whistled the Chinese national anthem at a World Cup qualifier against Iran.

The Disciplinary Commission of world football’s governing body handed the federation a 15,000 Swiss francs fine, reprimanding Hong Kong fans for “disturbance during national anthems; use of objects to transmit a message that is not appropriate for a sports events”.

Hong Kong fields an independent team but because it is an administrative region of China, the Chinese national anthem is played before matches.

The territory has been engulfed by anti-Beijing demonstrations for months and China’s national anthem, ‘The March of the Volunteers’, was whistled by fans on 10 September, before Hong Kong lost 2-0 Iran, Fifa said.

Hong Kong is third in Group C of the Asia zone and after playing in Iraq on Wednesday, their next home game is against Bahrain on November 14.

(Agencies)