South Africa’s hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup have suffered a major setback after FIFA stripped the team of three points for fielding an ineligible player.
World football’s governing body (FIFA) announced on Monday that midfielder Teboho Mokoena should not have featured in South Africa’s 2-0 win over Lesotho in March, having already accumulated two yellow cards in previous Group C matches. The result has been overturned to a 3-0 victory for Lesotho, with South Africa fined 10,000 Swiss francs ($12,536) and Mokoena handed a warning.
The sanction leaves Benin top of Group C on goal difference, level with South Africa on 14 points, with two matches left to play. Nigeria and Rwanda are three points behind, keeping the race for top spot wide open. Only the group winners will qualify automatically for the finals, while runners-up face a gruelling playoff route.
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The ruling has caused embarrassment for the South African Football Association (SAFA), with coach Hugo Broos admitting: “We did something bad, we did something we shouldn’t do.”
FIFA has also been criticised for its handling of the case, as it took nearly seven months to reach a decision. Benin coach Gernot Rohr said: “It is not normal that we don’t know the situation about the points on the log table before our games.”
The penultimate round of qualifiers on 10 October will see Benin travel to Rwanda, Lesotho host Nigeria, and South Africa face Zimbabwe. The final round on 14 October could prove decisive, with South Africa at home to Rwanda and Benin visiting Nigeria.
This is not the first time an African side has been sanctioned for using an ineligible player. In the 2018 qualifiers, Nigeria forfeited a draw against Algeria, while Cape Verde lost out on a playoff spot ahead of the 2014 World Cup after fielding Fernando Varela while he was suspended.
