FIFA dismisses appeals from South Africa and Benin over qualifying incidents

Fifa has ruled an appeal from South Africa relating to a decisive 2022 World Cup qualifying match against Ghana is inadmissible.

Bafana Bafana had claimed they were “robbed” after their 1-0 defeat last month, with the only goal in the game scored from a first-half penalty.

The South Africa Football Association (Safa) included allegations of “match fixing, match manipulation including corruption and bribery” when it lodged a complaint with football’s world governing body.

South Africa had needed a draw to reach Africa’s World Cup play-offs, but the result meant Ghana progressed at their expense on goals scored.

Safa president Danny Jordaan later claimed there was a betting spike during the qualifier, which took place in Cape Coast on 14 November.

Meanwhile, an appeal by Benin about substitutions made by DR Congo in another crunch qualifier on the same day has also been dismissed by the world governing body.

Fifa’s disciplinary committee declared both protests inadmissible as they did not meet relevant requirements, but also added the decisions are subject to appeal.

FIFA’s ruling has been frowned at in some quarters, with African football expert, Oma Akatugba saying he’s disappointed. Akatugba, while speaking with eNCA, said the world governing body should have gone “the extra mile” to review the situation.

As it stands, Ghana and DR Congo will be in January’s draw for the African World Cup play-offs, with two-legged ties to decide the continent’s five representatives in Qatar set to be played in March.

“We have received the decision without details and will request the reasons [from Fifa] and consider our options,” Safa chief executive Tebogo Motlanthe said in a statement on Friday.

Benin’s protest concerned their 2-0 defeat by DR Congo – a result which saw the Leopards qualify ahead of Benin, who had needed a win to advance.

The appeal was about the fact that DR Congo made a total of four substitutions across four windows during the match.

Under current Fifa regulations for international games, teams are allowed to make up to five substitutes but only during three windows in the game.