The long-running debate over South Africa’s alleged fielding of an ineligible player in the World Cup qualifiers has taken a fresh twist, with a former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president siding with FIFA’s decision not to sanction Bafana Bafana, Footynaija.com reports.
The case revolved around midfielder Teboho Mokoena, who many argued should have served a suspension after accumulating yellow cards earlier in the qualifiers.
Nigeria and Benin had both looked to benefit from a possible points deduction, but FIFA left South Africa untouched in its latest disciplinary update, keeping the group standings unchanged.
This has sparked reactions, with an NFF spokesperson recently denying claims that FIFA had already cleared South Africa. The matter had raised serious questions about administrative procedures and how the NFF handled its own protests during the qualifiers.
Speaking under the condition of anonymity, a former NFF president told BSN Sports that FIFA’s decision was understandable given the way the issue unfolded. According to him, the world body could not have punished South Africa without first alerting them of Mokoena’s status.
“In Nigeria’s case, FIFA had sent a warning, but the federation failed to act on it. Algeria also filed a formal complaint promptly. That made the penalty straightforward,” he explained.
The former football chief added that the absence of a written protest against South Africa, coupled with FIFA’s failure to send a prior notice, left little room for sanctions.
“Without a written protest, and with FIFA itself not having alerted South Africa beforehand about Mokoena’s suspension, it would be difficult for them to enforce a sanction without appearing culpable themselves,” he said.
He did not spare the current NFF administration either, pointing to poor match preparation as another reason Nigeria lost ground in the qualifiers.
“Nigeria played Rwanda at home on Saturday, then traveled that same night and arrived in South Africa on Sunday, trained only once on Monday and played on Tuesday. They had the option of hosting Rwanda on Thursday or Friday to allow more recovery time. That planning failure cost us dearly,” he lamented.