The Nigeria Football Federation has rubbished claims that FIFA has already cleared South Africa in the heated player eligibility battle involving Teboho Mokoena — www.naijnaira.com reports.
According to Premium Times, NFF’s Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire, said no official word has come from FIFA on the case.
“There has been no official communication to that effect. What people are reporting is a tweet on their X account. We don’t regard that as official communication,” Olajire explained.
At the center of the controversy is Mokoena, who picked up two yellow cards earlier in the qualifiers but still featured against Lesotho in a match South Africa won 2-0.
Lesotho immediately lodged a protest, demanding FIFA hand them a 3-0 victory and strip South Africa of three points.
The governing body has kept silent for six months, and that delay has left Group C in limbo as nations await clarity on the standings.
If FIFA rules in Lesotho’s favor, South Africa would forfeit the win and points, dropping them from their current tally of 17.
But if the protest is thrown out as invalid, Bafana Bafana would stay top of the group with their full haul of points intact.
Nigeria, meanwhile, are under pressure after their 1-1 draw against South Africa left them in second place with 11 points, level with Rwanda.
The Super Eagles now face Lesotho away on October 10 before ending their qualifiers against Benin Republic in Uyo six days later.
South Africa remain group leaders with 17 points, while Benin trail with 14, leaving Nigeria needing near-perfect results to avoid a tense playoff path.
Lesotho sit on 6 points and Zimbabwe on 4, both outside realistic contention for qualification.
Article updated 4 weeks ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
