Fifa issues fines over Home Countries' poppy tributes

Football governing body Fifa has fined the associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for displaying poppy motifs during World Cup qualifier matches around the time of Remembrance Day.

England was fined 45,000 Swiss francs (c.£35,311), with Scotland and Wales each fined 20,000 Swiss francs. Northern Ireland was fined 15,000 Swiss francs.

The players from England and Scotland wore armbands emblazoned withe the poppy symbol when they clashed on 11 November -- a date traditionally marking the end of the First World War -- at Wembley.

In the Wales and Northern Ireland games there were displays on either the pitch or the stands to mark Remembrance Day.

The rule-making International Football Association Board has dictated that players could not wear political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images.

Fifa's ruling comes amid in the hundredth anniversary year of the notorious Somme offensive, 1916.

England's Football Association will appeal the fine, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have yet to decide on whether they would appeal, or not.