The decision by soccer’s governing body to...

The decision by soccer’s governing body to ban standing room at all World Cup matches starting in 1992 and all major club matches the next year is being criticized as expensive and impractical.

FIFA, the international federation, ruled that stadiums with standing room must leave those sections unsold. FIFA also said any national federation failing to comply would be punished, although it did not specify how.

FIFA said its decision was speeded by the disaster April 15 at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, where 95 fans in a standing-room section were crushed to death during the semifinals of the English Football Assn. Cup. But some of Europe’s national associations say the plan is unworkable.

“I have no idea how they think this could be done,” said Edgar Obertuefer, general secretary of the Swiss Football Assn. “I just cannot imagine FIFA enforcing such regulations. It would be impossible.”

But in Greece, where some of Europe’s worst soccer violence has occurred, Nikos Zoubogiorgos, the national federation’s vice president, said that FIFA’s decision was “a step in the right direction that will obviously cut down on fan violence and overcrowding.”