ZURICH - FIFA on Friday upheld all sanctions imposed on Turkey and a Swiss player following violence that marred the November World Cup qualifier between the two sides in Istanbul.
The Appeal Committee of world football`s governing body "decided to maintain all appealed decisions taken by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on 6 February and 7 February 2006," FIFA said in a statement.
The Turkish football association has vowed to fight a "legal war" against the sanctions.
In February, FIFA ordered Turkey to play their next six official home games behind closed doors at a neutral venue and pay all organizational costs, handed out a 200,000 Swiss francs (129,000 euro) fine and banned three of their players.
Swiss player Benjamin Huggel had also appealed against a six-match ban.
"Meeting under the chairmanship of Rafael Salguero (Guatemala), the Committee examined in depth the appeals lodged by the Turkish FA, players Emre Belozoglu (Turkey), Ozalan Alpay (Turkey), Benjamin Huggel (Switzerland) and assistant coach Mehmet Ozdilek (Turkey) and rejected all appeals completely," FIFA said.
A final avenue of appeal is still open through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.
04/07/2006 16:13 GMT