Connect with us

Governing Bodies

Fifa throw out South Africa’s protest over World Cup qualifier loss

Published

on

South African football authorities are reportedly considering further actions following Fifa’s dismissal of their protest following the 1-0 loss to Ghana in their decisive World Cup qualifier in Cape Coast last month.

According to a report by SuperSport,  South African Football Association (SAFA) will consider further steps once they read the judgement.

Fifa’s Disciplinary Committee decided that the protest was inadmissible, without providing any further details.

SAFA believe they were “robbed” by Senegal referee Maguette Ndiaye and his assistants, who handed the home side a dubious penalty and made several other doubtful calls.

The result allowed Ghana to leapfrog South Africa to the top of their pool and move into the final stage of qualifying in March for the finals in Qatar next year.

“We have received the decision without details and will request the reasons (from Fifa) and consider our options,” SAFA chief executive Tebogo Motlanthe said in a statement on Friday.

Advertisement

South Africa had been hoping to benefit from the precedent set when they were ordered to replay their World Cup qualifier victory over Senegal five years ago after Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey was found guilty by Fifa of unlawfully influencing the result.

Lamptey was banned for life while Senegal won the replay 2-0 and qualified for Russia 2018.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

Continue Reading
Advertisement