AFCON
FIFA’s penalty on Nigeria is the second heaviest among 35 countries
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
The post match actions of fans after the elimination of Nigeria from the qualifying for the Qatar 2022 World Cups has attracted penalties from the football governing body, FIFA. Penalty on Nigeria is the second heaviest.
Consequently, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has been fined 150, 000 Swiss Francs ($154,000) (N62,214,000). This becomes double jeopardy considering the loss of minimum of $12 million (N5billion) the country would have obtained had the Super Eagles qualified for the World Cup.
In addition, the Super Eagles will have to play their next home game, qualifiers for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations against Sierra Leone in an empty Stadium.
The CHF150,000 imposed on Nigeria is one of the heaviest among the 35 erring countries. It is only surpassed by that of Senegal which is CHF 175,000.
Both countries committed the same offence. In the case of Nigeria, FIFA sanctioned the country for failure to implement existing safety rules and failure to ensure that law and order were maintained in the 29 March World Cup qualifiers with Ghana at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
The crowd invasion of the field as thrown of objects were also taken into consideration. While Nigeria is made to cough out CHF 150,000 which will be deducted from the NFF’s account with FIFA, some other erring countries are fined as low as CHF 3,000 for Algeria, CHF 1,000 for Australia and mere warning for Canada.
Only Senegal has a heavier penalty than Nigeria. The Senegalese FA will pay CHF 175,000 and also serve a match behind closed doors like Nigeria. This is as a result failure to implement existing safety rules and failure to ensure that law and order were maintained in the stadium, during their World Cup qualifying match with Egypt.
In addition, they were sanctioned for the invasion of the field of play, throwing of objects, lighting of fireworks, use of laser pointers and use of objects to transmit a message that is not appropriate for a sports events – offensive banner.
But unlike Nigeria, the Senegalese have a larger purse as $2.5 million await them for World Cup qualification and another $10 million for the three group matches they will play in November. If they move beyond the group stage, their earning will increase.
This is in addition to S6million prize money they earned from the Africa Cup of Nations victory last February where Nigeria got nothing.
An overview of the sanctions imposed on erring countries is available in here.
Ghana Black Stars lost 2-0 to Sudan Tuesday afternoon in matchday 4 of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series putting their prospects in great doubt.
The former three-time African champions are now third in Group F having accrued just two points from four matches. Sudan, with seven points, are second.
Angola, who still have a match to play later in the day with bottom-placed Niger, are on top with nine points.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
With CAF referring the case of the botched Libya-Nigeria match to its
Disciplinary Board, a nine-man panel has the task of deciding which party was at fault.
Possible decision could be forfeiture of the match by the offending party or rescheduling of the fixture. The latter seems unlikely considering the already congested international calendar.
Even if that were to be the decision, the match would likely be taken to a neutral ground.
On the other hand, the board may also take it that it was Nigeria that refused to play the match after having hosted the first leg.
In that case, Article 62 of the competition’s regulations will be enforced. It reads: “Any team that withdraws or refuses to play the return match after having played the first leg on its territory must refund the association of the visiting team a minimum sum of fifteen thousand (15,000) U.S. dollars in reparation for the damage suffered by the host country.”
If the NFF is adjudged as the culprit, the body will be fined $15,000. Chapter 19 of the regulations gives a window to appeal the fine. But judging from the CAF statement of the situation, and the condemnation of the treatment meted out to the Super Eagles, the fine is very unlikely as the weight of evidence tilts against the Libyans who in the x-handle admitted keeping the Super Eagles in captivity with an explanation that episode was largely due to an airport protocol mishap.
A decision lies firstly on the nine-man panel. With the possibility of the losing side not satisfied, another nine-man panel, the Appeals Board will take a possible final decision which can only be contested at the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS)
Here are the decision-makers:
Disciplinary Board
- Ousmane Kane, Senegal. – President.
- Jane Njeri Onyango, Kenya – Vice President.
- Norman Arendse, South Africa – member
- Mohamed Mostafa El-Mashta, Egypt. – member
- Djonfoune Golbassia Felix, Chad. – member
- Patrick Shale, Lesotho – member
- Douma Ibrahim Issaka – Niger. -member
- Ruth Kisaakye, Uganda. -member
- Drucil Taylor, Sierra Leone. – member
Appeal Board
Justice Roli Daibo Harriman, Nigeria
Faustino Varela Monteiro, Cape Verde
Moez Ben Tahar Nasri, Tunisia
Moses Ikanqa, Namibia
Hamoud T’feil Bowbe, Mauritania
Mohamed Robleh Djama, Djibouti
Asogbavi Komlan, Togo
Justice Masauko Timothy Msungama, Malawi
Lubamba Ngimbi Hector, DR Congo
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The Libya-Nigeria Group D tie of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers scheduled for this Tuesday has been put off owing to the refusal of the Libyan authorities to allow the Nigerian team to enter their territory for the match.
As a result, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has referred the case to its Disciplinary Board to make an appropriate decision. The immediate consequence of this is the delay of the Nigerian team picking an early qualification as has been done by Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Algeria who have all qualified after four matches.
A win by Nigeria on Tuesday would have taken their point haul to 10 while a draw would take their total to eight. That way, irrespective of the result of the Rwanda-Benin Republic corresponding match would have qualified the Super Eagles for Morocco 2025 as they would not have ended below second position in Group D.
They now await the decision of the CAF body. A possible outcome could be Libya’s forfeiture of the match. A case in point is that of USM Alger of Algeria versus Morocco’s RS Berkane in last year’s Confederation Cup semi-final duel when the Moroccans were unjustly delayed at the airport by the Algerians.
In the case of the Super Eagles, it was worse as theirs was not just delayed, they were locked up in a desolate airport in what was a psychologically draining and energy sapping tactics.
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