Australian federation will not take action against Cahill over goal celebration

Australia’s football association will not take action against Tim Cahill after it was claimed he used a goal celebration to promote a sponsor.

The striker made a “T” sign after scoring for Australia in the World Cup qualifying win over Syria on Wednesday.
In a now-deleted Instagram post, a travel agency hailed the gesture and Cahill replied with eight emojis.

“We don’t believe Tim’s breached any laws,” a Football Federation Australia (FFA) spokesman told the BBC.
Cahill, who plays for Melbourne City and previously had spells with Millwall, Everton and New York Red Bulls, later tagged the sponsor in an Instagram post of his own.

“Another chapter written and plenty more to come. Amazing team performance and really proud of everyone tonight, team, staff and fans,” Cahill wrote, before tagging the agency.

World football’s governing body, Fifa, told BBC Sport it is “reviewing and analysing the reports from the referees and the match commissioners for all matches in Fifa competitions”. They added that “any events which require further attention may be communicated accordingly”.

Fifa’s laws of the game prohibit advertising on some garments and on the field of play.
The FFA says it has not been contacted about the matter.

In 2012, Danish footballer Nicklas Bendtner was fined 100,000 euros (£80,000) by European football’s governing body, Uefa, for exposing sponsored underwear.

The Cahill celebration has generated much discussion in Australia, where sport writers have said Cahill “blew an iconic Australian football moment” and “held the pose long enough” to make it conspicuous.
The win earned Australia a 3-2 aggregate win over the Syrians and a play-off against Honduras, with the victors earning a place at next summer’s World Cup in Russia.

BBC Sports