FA fined £53,000 by Fifa for players wearing non-slip socks at World Cup

A pair of socks worn by England’s World Cup heroes landed the Football Association a £53,211 fine from Fifa.

The FA was punished after “several members” of Gareth Southgate’s squad defied orders to stop wearing the British-made TRUsox at the tournament.

Raheem Sterling, Dele Alli and Eric Dier have all been pictured in the product during England’s run to the semi-finals.

Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale also use TRUsox, which feature non-slip pads and are designed to be worn on top of regular football socks to stop players’ feet moving around in their boots.

Fifa’s crackdown on the socks is being seen against the background of its commercial deal with Adidas, which is one of the governing body’s biggest sponsors.

It fined the Swedish FA the same amount as the FA after Sweden captain Andreas Granqvist defied orders to stop wearing TRUsox ahead of his country’s quarter-final defeat to England.

It could punish the Swedes again after he used them as well in that match.

The FA is likely to appeal its own sanction, which is far more severe than those Fifa has imposed for racist and homophobic abuse during the World Cup.

As exclusively revealed by the Daily Telegraph, it even secretly let off the Croatian Football Federation with a warning for fascist banners displayed by the country’s fans.

The FA was already angry with the disparity after being fined £16,000 after a picture emerged showing a can of Red Bull in the England dugout during their Under-20 World Cup triumph in South Korea.

Powerade, part of the Coca-Cola family, is Fifa’s official energy drink.