World Cup
South Africa finally pay the penalty
South Africa have been stripped of three points in their World Cup qualifying campaign for fielding an ineligible player, denting their hopes of reaching next year’s finals.
FIFA said on Monday that its disciplinary committee had found South Africa guilty of playing midfielder Teboho Mokoena in a 2-0 home win over Lesotho in March when he should have sat out the qualifier after two cautions in previous Group C games.
Lesotho have been awarded a 3-0 victory, with South Africa stripped of the points and fined 10,000 Swiss Francs ($12,536.04), while Mokoena was given a warning.
Benin now top the standings on goal difference, level with South Africa on 14 points with two games left.
Nigeria, who were the group favourites, are three points behind along with Rwanda. Only the group winners qualify directly for the World Cup, though the runners-up have a chance to win a berth albeit through an arduous playoff process.
In the penultimate round of qualifiers on October 10, Benin visit Rwanda, Lesotho host Nigeria and South Africa take on Zimbabwe.
The final set of key games on October 14 see South Africa hosting Rwanda while Benin are at neighbouring Nigeria.
EMBARRASSMENT FOR SOUTH AFRICA
Losing the points is a major embarrassment for the South African Football Association, with coach Hugo Broos already admitting: “We did something bad, we did something we shouldn’t do.”
But FIFA’s handling of the matter has come in for criticism as it took world soccer’s governing body almost seven months to settle a routine matter.
It had not held a disciplinary hearing before the last round of World Cup qualifiers, to the ire of the other countries.
“It is not normal that we don’t know the situation about the points on the log table before our games (last month),” said Benin coach Gernot Rohr.
FIFA did not respond to multiple enquiries from March onwards about possible sanctions for South Africa, leaving the matter hanging until earlier this month when the body announced it was opening an investigation.
To be able to do this in the autumn climbing season when we’re the only expedition here and you have to set the route, you have to fix the route with the Sherpas and actually find the route to the summit in deep snow.
FIFA’s rules state: “If a person receives a caution in two separate matches of the same FIFA competition, they are automatically suspended from the next match in that competition.
“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.”
It is not the first time a country has been docked points for fielding an ineligible player in African World Cup qualification.
In the 2018 qualifiers, FIFA awarded Algeria a 3-0 win as a result of Nigeria fielding the ineligible Shehu Abdullahi, after their match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Ahead of the 2014 finals in Brazil, the Cape Verde Islands lost out on a playoff spot after using Fernando Varela in their shock group win against Tunisia. He was still suspended, so Tunisia went through to the playoffs instead of the islanders.
-Reuters
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BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Following FIFA’s decision to strip South Africa of three points (from their 2–0 win over Lesotho) and award Lesotho a 3–0 win by default, the Group C table has been reshuffled. Benin Republic now lead the pack after getting 14 points like South Africa, but having a better goal difference.
Nigeria sits close behind on 11 points, the same as Rwanda. Lesotho follow with six points while Zimbabwe occupy the bottom position.
Under the CAF / FIFA format, only the group winner qualifies directly for the 2026 World Cup, while the runner-up may still have a route via playoffs.
The forfeiture has thus dealt a major blow to South Africa’s campaign — turning what looked like a steady lead into a precarious position.
Revised Standings after the Forfeiture
TEAMS P W D L F A GD P Benin 8 4 2 2 12 9 +4 14 S/Africa 8 4 2 2 12 9 +3 14 Nigeria 8 2 5 1 9 7 +2 11 Rwanda 8 3 2 3 5 5 0 11 Lesotho 8 2 3 3 7 9 -2 9 Zimbabwe 8 0 4 4 5 11 -6 4
Projections for the Final Two Matchdays
With just two matchdays remaining, here are some likely scenarios and what each team must do to stay in contention:
Team What They Need Projection / Outlook Benin Win or even a draw in both remaining matches could see them hold on to top spot (depending on goal difference). Very strong contender for direct qualification. Their consistent form and now having the better goal difference give them an edge. South Africa Must win both remaining matches and hope Benin slips up (or win by large margins to overturn the goal difference). The forfeiture has put them on the back foot. They’ll need near-perfect results and favourable outcomes elsewhere. Nigeria Must win both games, and hope both South Africa and Benin falter. They may also need to overturn goal differences in their favour. In a “long shot” but not eliminated yet. Their fate will depend heavily on others. Rwanda Same as Nigeria: wins in both, plus help from Benin or South Africa dropping points. Outside chance. They’ll need both excellent performances and missteps by rivals. Lesotho / Zimbabwe Realistically, their chances for qualification are gone. They may fight for pride or upset results, but the math is against them. Unlikely to contend for top places.
Key Variables to Watch
- Goal difference: With Benin and South Africa level on points, margin of victories and conceded goals will likely decide the top spot.
- Direct matches among top teams: If Benin, South Africa or Nigeria meet each other in those last two rounds, those head-to-head outcomes will be pivotal.
- Psychological pressure: South Africa now face an uphill climb, having lost those points. Confidence, momentum, and management decisions will matter more than ever.
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The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned the South African Football Association (SAFA) for fielding an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, in the 2026 FIFA World Cup™ preliminary match against Lesotho played on 21 March 2025.
In a statement released on Monday, FIFA confirmed that South Africa breached Article 19 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) and Article 14 of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Preliminary Competition Regulations by featuring the player, who was not eligible for selection.
As a result, FIFA has awarded the match to Lesotho with a 3–0 scoreline, overturning the original result.
In addition to the forfeiture, SAFA has been ordered to pay a fine of CHF 10,000, while Teboho Mokoena has received an official warning from the world football governing body.
According to FIFA, the parties involved have been notified of the decision and have ten days to request a motivated decision, which, if requested, will be published on legal.fifa.com.
The ruling, however, remains subject to appeal before the FIFA Appeal Committee, in line with the relevant provisions of the Disciplinary Code.
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BY SAID SHEHATA
The golden rule in sport is that politics does not intervene in its affairs, since it should be neutral and the sphere of people regardless of their political affiliations.
However, there have been cases of breaking this law, such as Russia and Israel. For example, Russian football clubs and national teams have been suspended from all competitions by FIFA and UEFA.
Another example is that Spain threatened to boycott the 2026 World Cup if Israel qualifies after a UN Commission of Inquiry stated that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
While this rule stands for majority of cases, there is a mutual influence between sport and politics in its general sense. The Moroccan case will illustrate how sport and politics can impact each other.
King Mohamed VI, the king of Morocco, and the Moroccan state have a vision and plan to develop sport.
Sport is seen as a tool for development, social cohesion, improve Morocco image internationally and satisfy people’s aspirations who love sport, especially football.
The belief of the political leadership has been materialized in plans and projects which helped Morocco to be one of the hosts of the 20230 football World Cup.
King Mohammed VI at the inauguration of “the Mohammed VI Football Complex”.
The Moroccan government put 8.7 billion dollars’ investment in the railways sector to improve the transport network. This investment has created jobs and brought another source for the economy to flourish.
One just needs about 2 hours to go from Casablanca to Tangier on the new fast train. In addition, the Moroccan prime minister Aziz Akhannouch said that the Moroccan airports will be receiving 80 million passengers by 2030 from 38 million at present. This shows more investments in airports to be up to the event in 2030.
Moreover, more investments assigned to develop and build new stadiums. For example, the Ibn Batouta stadium in Tangier was renovated and its seating capacity increased to host 75,000 spectators.
Aerial view of the completely remodeled Grand Stade de Tanger
It was done according to the highest standards and by local experts. Morocco will build near Casablanca a huge stadium which can host 115,000 fans and it will be ready before the 2030 world cup and it might be the venue for the final match.
Furthermore, Morocco established the ‘Mohamed VI Football Complex’ in 2019 to be home for national football teams of all ages in order to help sportsmen and women to train and focus before competitions.
Part of the plan to improve the level of football is to help developing young talents to feed national teams.
Omar Khyari, an advisor to the president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation told me that this was the reason behind establishing the king Mohammed VI Football Academy in 2009, which was inaugurated in 2010 by the king.
The purpose of the academy is to discover, train and develop young footballers for professional clubs and the national teams.
The Moroccan government believes in equality between men and women and this belief was reflected in laws to protect women rights as well as their right to sport.
Morocco invested in women domestic league and it has a very good female football national team. This team reached the final in both 2022 and 2024 Women African Cup.
Morocco will host the competition in 2026 and its women national team has a big chance to win it this time.
It can be added that there are 3000 playgrounds all over Morocco, where ordinary people in cities and countryside can play football.
The Moroccan vision which has been translated in plans and investments is a clear manifestation of how politics influences sport on different levels from investments to ensuring all facilities are available and ready to have successful sport.
By the same token, sport influences politics as well as the economic and social aspects of people’s lives.
For example, investments in infrastructures, such as railways and airports have created thousands of jobs and could attract foreign direct investment. Investors are looking to put their money where logistics can help them to make profit.
In addition, more tourists will come to Morocco because of its sport image as well as the different comfortable facilities to make visitors’ visit enjoyable.
In 2024 tourism contributed 11.2 billion dollars to the economy and 17.4 million tourists visited Morocco according to the ministry of tourism.
The ministry thinks that this number of tourists will be about 76 million by 2030. Tourism is the second source of foreign currency in Morocco. It is also estimated that the World Cup will add 1.5 billion dollars to the Moroccan economy.
Furthermore, sport, particularly football, unites Moroccans and this can be seen in football matches. Families come to support the national team and this was clear during the Moroccan- Niger match for the qualification of the 2026 world cup and Morocco qualified after winning that match. Football brings people together.
Satisfaction of people through football could strengthen the regime legitimacy, since the political leadership provides people of things they like.
It can be argued that a vision accompanied by a plan can make a difference. The Moroccan vision for sport, especially football was translated into plans to invest in infrastructure and human beings.
Those investments by the Moroccan government helped Morocco to be one of the hosts of the 2030 Football World Cup.
Focusing on and investing in football will pay back on political, economic and social levels.
* Dr. Said Shehata, Lecturer in Middle East Politics and International Relations-
-Ahram
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