South Africa’s push for a place at the World Cup is hanging in the balance as FIFA launches disciplinary action over the use of an ineligible player during a qualifier against Lesotho.
World football’s governing body confirmed that the South African Football Association faces sanction after Teboho Mokoena featured in the 2-0 victory despite serving a suspension.
Mokoena, a midfielder, was ruled out of the fixture due to two yellow cards but still appeared in the March encounter, contravening FIFA’s disciplinary code.
“If a team fields a player who is not eligible to participate (due to suspension, registration issues, nationality, etc.), the match is automatically forfeited. The default result is a 3-0 loss, unless the actual result was even more disadvantageous to the offending team,” FIFA’s disciplinary code reads.
South Africa currently tops Group C with 17 points, but a three-point deduction would leave them level with Benin on 14 points, with two matches left to determine who qualifies.
FIFA had initially faced criticism for failing to act on the breach, sparking accusations of inconsistency in applying its rules.
Cases of teams losing points for fielding suspended players are not new in FIFA competitions.
In 2018, Algeria were handed three points after Nigeria fielded Shehu Abdullahi, who had not served a suspension, in a qualifier that ended 1-1.
Nigeria still went on to qualify, but Cape Verde were not so fortunate in 2014 after using Fernando Varela against Tunisia, costing them a playoff place.
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