By Emmanuel Okogba
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned the South African Football Association (SAFA) for fielding an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, during the 2026 FIFA World Cup preliminary qualifier between South Africa and Lesotho on March 21, 2025.
According to FIFA, SAFA’s action breached Article 19 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and Article 14 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Preliminary Competition Regulations. As a result, the match has been forfeited in favour of Lesotho, with a 3-0 scoreline awarded.
In addition, SAFA has been fined CHF 10,000, while Mokoena himself has received an official warning.
The decision was formally communicated to the parties today. Under FIFA rules, they have ten days to request a detailed, motivated decision, which would subsequently be published on legal.fifa.com. The ruling remains subject to appeal before the FIFA Appeal Committee.
Hugo Broos’ men currently sit at the top of their World Cup qualification Group C, having collected 17 points from eight games.
Bafana had a three-point gap to second-placed Benin, but have now been overtaken by the Squirrels after their 2-0 win against Lesotho was written off and resulted as 0-3 due to the administrative error.
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