Senegal finished third in Group C behind Japan after they collected six bookings, two more than the Asian team.

Each team's disciplinary record was the only way to separate the two sides after they finished level on points, goals scored and goal difference.

Senegal, beaten 1-0 by Colombia in their final group game, were the first team to be knocked out because of the number of cards their players had received as the rule was making its World Cup debut at the tournament in Russia.

There was further controversy as Japan settled for a 1-0 defeat to Poland knowing they would go through ahead of Senegal.

The Japanese team passed the ball around the defence and made no attempt to go forward in a final 15 minutes played at walking pace.

The scenes were described as "contrary to the principles governing football" by the FSF in a letter sent to FIFA and published by BBC Sport.

"In future, FIFA should penalise a team that plays that way," spokesperson Kara Thioune told BBC Sport.

"FIFA has adopted a new system but does the fair play rule solve all the problems? 

"After the game, nothing happened to either Japan or Poland.

"There should be some means of penalising players, coaches or teams for such an attitude."

The letter also said the FSF "deplored" the lack of fair play shown by the Japanese team, initiated by its coach Akira Nishino, who claimed it was a "very tough" decision to adopt the overly-negative approach.

Japan's tactics were met with boos and jeers inside the Volgograd Arena.

"The Federation believes that Japan literally refused to play when it learned that Colombia had just scored a goal against Senegal, a refusal to play that suited Japan but which is contrary to the principles governing football," the letter stated.

"The Federation is all the more shocked that the Japan coach did not deny the facts. 

"In the post-match press conference, the latter even confirmed he had made the decision to manipulate the result by keeping the score at 1-0."

FIFA had earlier defended the use of the fair play ruling, used at the 2016 European Championships in France but which was not required to separate teams.

Colin Smith, FIFA's director of competitions, claimed the organisation saw no reason to change it at this stage.

"We want to avoid the drawing of lots as we believe teams should go forward based on what happens on the pitch," he said.

"This is the first time we've used it at a World Cup, so obviously we'll review it but as things stand we don't see any need to change it."