Super Eagles World Cup qualification chances may have taken a hit after Lesotho reportedly withdrew their complaint to FIFA about South Africa fielding an inelligible player in their qualifiers.
Lesotho have reportedly withdrawn their petition to FIFA regarding South Africa's error of fielding an ineligible player during their World Cup qualifier match.
Micky Jnr, an African journalist, relayed quotes from the secretary general of the Lesotho Football Association, confirming that they withdrew their query, and explained the reason.
What he said
As Pulse Sports reported, South Africa started Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Teboho Mokoena against Lesotho when he was meant to be serving a one-game suspension for accumulation of yellow cards.
The LFA submitted a petition to the governing body, and there are suggestions the NFF will do the same, as a three-point deduction for Bafana Bafana would boost Nigeria's chances of qualification.
According to the quotes from MickyJnr, however, Lesotho are no longer pursuing that avenue.
"There's nothing financial about the enquiry we made at FIFA," Mokhosi Mohapi, the LFA secretary general, allegedly said.
"When we read the regulations, we realised that the issue of time bar will be an obstacle to us, so we decided to cancel it all."
When asked if they would take further steps in the future, he was reported to have said, "Nothing from our side now except to wait on FIFA to communicate how it will deal with the solicited issue."
South Africa might escape punishment
According to FIFA regulations, complaints such as the one Lesotho made had to be filed within 24 hours after the match.
The Southern African nation did not submit their petition within this timeframe; hence, Bafana Bafana might escape punishment on a technicality. It also helps their case that they took precautions by not playing Mokoena in the subsequent game against the Benin Republic.
However, they could be punished all the same, as the LFA general secretary previously said in a Pulse Sports report, four other nations are "prejudiced" by the incident. This means that a possible point deduction impacts the qualification chances of other teams in the group, including the Super Eagles. Hence, the deduction might still come even after Lesotho reportedly withdrew.
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