God may have answered the prayers of football loving Nigerians as the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on Monday sanctioned the South African Football Association (SAFA) for having fielded an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, in the South Africa v. Lesotho match played on March 212025 in the FIFA World Cup 2026™ preliminary competition, thereby breaching article 19 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) and article 14 of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Preliminary Competition Regulations.
Consequently, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has declared the match in question to have been forfeited by the representative team of South Africa by a score of 3-0.
SAFA has also been ordered to pay a fine of CHF 10,000 to FIFA, while Teboho Mokoena has been issued with a warning.
The parties were notified of the terms of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee’s decision on Monday. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the FDC, they have ten days in which to request a motivated decision, which, if requested, would subsequently be published on legal.fifa.com. The forfeiture decision remains subject to a potential appeal before the FIFA Appeal Committee.
While the decision may be good tidings to Nigerians, the chances that Eagles will pick the group’s lone ticket ahead of frontrunners South Africa and the Benin Republic are very slim.
