FIFA Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned the South African Football Association (SAFA) for fielding an ineligible player in one of its matches in the World Cup 2026, African Qualifiers.
SAFA was found guilty of fielding Teboho Mokoena, an ineligible player, in the World Cup 2026 qualifiers between South Africa and Lesotho on 21 March, 2025.
FIFA found SAFA guilty of breaching Article 19 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) and Article 14 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Preliminary Competition Regulations.
The world football governing body, in announcing the sanction against SAFA, also deducted three points from its national football team.
Consequently, the disciplinary committee of the regulatory body has declared the match in question to have been forfeited by the representative team of South Africa by a score of 3-0.
This was as SAFA was also ordered to pay a fine of CHF 10,000 to FIFA, while Teboho Mokoena was issued with a warning.
The parties were notified of the terms of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee’s (FDC) decision today, Monday.
In accordance with the relevant provisions of the FDC, SAFA and the South African national team have 10 days in which to request a motivated decision, which, if requested, would subsequently be published on legal.fifa.com.
The forfeiture decision against SAFA therefore remains subject to a potential appeal before the FIFA Appeal Committee.
The South African national football team, having dropped three points, now occupies the second position in the Group C of the World Cup 2026, African Qualifiers.
South African is trailing Benin with same 14 points but with goal difference in favour of Benin, while Nigeria occupies the third position with 11 points.
With the latest development, the Super Eagles of Nigeria needed to win their last two matches, to secure a place in the World Cup 2026, as against South Africa that needed one win and one draw to qualify.
