THE hope of the Super Eagles of Nigeria making it to the FIFA World Cup to be hosted in North America in 2026 may have finally been dashed as Lesotho Football Association has withdrawn their complaint against South Africa for allegedly fielding an ineligible player.
Teboho Mokoena, a midfielder, who was suspended due to accumulated yellow cards, was fielded in the match against Lesotho.
FIFA rules could have seen them forfeit the match and hurt their World Cup hopes. A development that may have brightened Nigeria’s chances. South Africa won the match played penultimate Friday 2-0.
Mokoena was booked in South Africa’s opening qualifier against Benin Republic (matchday 1) and picked up another caution against Zimbabwe (matchday 4). Despite this, he featured for 81 minutes in the match day 5 encounter with Lesotho, a potential breach of FIFA regulations (which states that a player who receives two yellow cards in separate matches must serve a one-match suspension).
Shortly after the incident, Lesotho FA released a comment on South Africa fielding an ineligible player in Mokoena.
“We were made aware of Mokoena’s bookings and we have since sent a formal inquiry to CAF and FIFA,” LFA Secretary-General, Mokhosi Mohapi, said, as reported by SowetanLIVE
“We have heard that Nigeria also want to protest and they too are entitled to that because the result (last Friday) prejudices everyone. Suppose it was us who fielded a defaulter and got the points, Bafana would have done the same.
“Unfortunately, the law is the law and Safa should have known about the bookings. We have no hard feelings. We want those points.”
However, Lesotho seems to have developed cold feet with regard to the petition. The decision by the country FA to withdraw the petition was confirmed on the official Bafana Bafana of South Africa social media handle (Facebook).
As a result of this latest development, Bafana Bafana continues to top the group with 13 points in 6 matches while Nigeria sit 4th on the table with 7 points. There are four matches left to be played. South Africa requires just two victories to make it to the finals while Nigeria must win all the remaining matches while also hoping that something goes wrong with its arch-rival.
Eighteen-Eleven Media