The South Africa Football Association (SAFA) says it is disappointed in world football governing body FIFA over their decision to deduct three points from their tally in the world cup qualifiers for fielding an ineligible player, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
FIFA officially communicated to South Africa the decision which sees them drop to second in the group behind Benin Republic, and also moved their closest rivals for the group sole ticket Nigeria to just one point behind them.
South Africa committed the offence in March when Teboho Mokoena who had two yellow cards from previous games played in the 2-0 win over Lesotho. An offence that automatically triggered a three points, three goals deduction with Lesotho awarded the game on technical grounds.
Reacting through a statement on their official website, SAFA said they are disappointed at the way FIFA arrived at the decision using a one man panel, and didn’t even allow them to present their case before effecting the point deduction.
They made it clear that they will be using the ten day grace to appeal the decision in the coming days, terming it as injustice. They also tendered an apology to the people of South Africa.
“As SAFA, we are deeply disappointed with this unprecedented outcome noting that it was delivered by a single-member panel without reasons, and without affording the Association an opportunity to present legal arguments. The Association confirms that we have requested written reasons for the judgment and intend to lodge a formal appeal with the FIFA Appeals Committee within the prescribed 10-day period under FIFA’s disciplinary rules”.
“Despite the outcome, the Association emphasises its continued commitment to supporting Bafana Bafana in their qualification campaign. The players and the technical team have worked extremely hard to reach this stage, and we remain focused on ensuring they secure maximum points in the matches ahead. We apologise to the nation for this administrative oversight and will reflect on the steps to take at the conclusion of our qualifying campaign. Finally, we call on all South Africans to rally behind the team during this final and crucial stage of the qualifiers”.
