CAPE TOWN, Sept 18 (Reuters) – South Africa will face disciplinary proceedings for fielding a suspended player in a World Cup qualifier in March, likely losing points and jeopardizing their hopes of qualifying for next year’s finals.
World football’s governing body FIFA informed the South African Football Association this week that it was opening proceedings over the fielding of midfielder Teboho Mokoena in the 2-0 win over Lesotho, officials confirmed.
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Mokoena should not have played as he had already received two cautions during qualifying and had to sit out the match with an automatic one-match suspension.
South Africa admitted it had made a mistake, but FIFA’s delay in opening disciplinary proceedings led to months of speculation in the country that it had got off scot-free, including from coach Hugo Broos.
FIFA’s slowness in resolving the issue has also been criticized by other countries battling for top spot in the South African group.
FIFA’s disciplinary code states: “If a team fields a player who is ineligible to participate (due to suspension, registration issues, nationality, etc.), the match is automatically forfeited. The default result is a 3-0 defeat, unless the actual result is even more disadvantageous to the offending team.”
A three-point deduction would leave South Africa tied with Benin on 14 points at the top of Group C with two qualifiers each to play, with Nigeria and Rwanda just three points behind.
Only the group winners automatically advance to the final in North America which will begin next June. The final two rounds of matches will be played next month with South Africa away to Zimbabwe and at home to Rwanda, while Benin will finish at Rwanda and Nigeria.
This will not be the first time that a country has had points deducted for fielding an ineligible player in qualifying for the African World Cup.
In the 2018 qualifiers, FIFA awarded Algeria a 3-0 victory thanks to Nigeria fielding ineligible Shehu Abdullahi after their match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Abdullahi did not serve a one-match suspension after receiving two yellow cards in the qualifying competition, but Nigeria still finished top of the group and qualified for the final in Russia.
Ahead of the 2014 finals in Brazil, the Cape Verde Islands lost their playoff spot after using Fernando Varela in their group win over Tunisia. He was still suspended, so Tunisia qualified for the playoffs in place of the islanders.
Written by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis
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