FIFA Rule That Indicted South Africa Over Teboho Mokoena’s Ineligibility Case Emerges
- The FIFA rule that indicted South Africa over Teboho Mokoena's ineligibility despite a late protest has emerged
- FIFA officially initiated disciplinary proceedings against South Africa for Mokoena's ineligibility against Lesotho
- Lesotho Football Association confirmed sending a complaint to FIFA in March, as there was a clear case of rule breach
- A Nigerian journalist described the late action by FIFA as an attempt to save the body's reputation after public outcry
The rule that indicted South Africa despite late official protest from Lesotho over Teboho Mokoena's ineligibility for a match has emerged. This is after FIFA opened a case against Bafana Bafana.
Hugo Broos played Mokoena for 82 minutes against Lesotho on matchday five of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier in March despite being suspended.
Source: Getty Images
SAFA and Bafana Bafana's technical crew committed an oversight error as the Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder received a yellow card on matchday one and five.
SABC Sport reported that the federation had received official communication from FIFA opening a disciplinary case against them for the incident.
FIFA rule indicts South Africa
There have been questions from football fans from other members of Group C, particularly Nigerians and Beninoise, over the delay in enacting judgment over the case.
FIFA acted on the incident in September, six months after it happened in March, after South Africans thought they had gotten away with it.
Chapter 2, Article 19, Fielding an ineligible player, number 3, Page 170 of the FIFA Legal handbook 2025 states that “The Disciplinary Committee may act ex officio.”
This was the part of the rules that granted FIFA the right to act on it despite no protest from Lesotho, even though Score Nigeria reported that they submitted a protest, but it was later than the stipulated 24 hours.
Lesotho Football Association secretary-general Mokhosi Mohapi, speaking in March, confirmed that LFA sent a complaint to FIFA, and it was not a question of when; it was a case of rule breach.
“The question is, was a rule broken? If yes, we are fully entitled to protest and get the points. We were made aware of Mokoena’s bookings, and we have since sent a formal inquiry to CAF and FIFA,” Mohapi said.
“There’s no such thing [as a 24-hour timeline]. If the protest is valid, FIFA will look into it. We are awaiting their response.”
Source: Getty Images
FIFA acted under this rule to uphold fair play and to prevent a party from undermining its competitions by hiding under the technicalities of no formal complaint.
SAFA has six days to respond in writing to FIFA, and if found guilty, Bafana Bafana will forfeit the match, resulting in a three-point deduction that will be awarded to Lesotho.
The possible point deduction will impact Group C in the final matchdays in October, giving a mathematical chance for Benin, Nigeria, and Rwanda to qualify.
A Nigerian journalist, who asked not to be named, because of comments surrounding FIFA and Patrice Motsepe, believes FIFA’s late action was to save its reputation.
“I'd call the rule a saving grace for FIFA, whose reputation was on the line if they had failed to act on the case and set a bad precedent for other cases,” he told Legit.ng.
“There have been insinuations about CAF President Patrice Motsepe using his influence to favour his country, particularly after having two neighbours, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, in their group.
“South Africa should work on securing the remaining maximum points, because the moment they receive that official letter, it's as good as three points gone.”
CAF sends message to South Africa and Nigeria
Legit.ng reported that CAF sent a message to South Africa and Nigeria after reports emerged that FIFA had opened an investigation into Mokoena's ineligibility.
The African football governing body shared a post on social media, including pictures of the two countries’ national teams at previous editions of AFCON.
Source: Legit.ng
