By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
FIFA has on Friday dismissed the South African Football Association’s (Safa) appeal to have their World Cup qualifier against Ghana replayed.
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee issued a statement this afternoon, saying Safa’s appeal does not meet the requirements for a replay.
The statements reads: “The protest lodged by South Africa has been declared inadmissible by the Disciplinary Committee as it did not meet the requirements foreseen under art. 46 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and art. 14 of the Regulations of the Preliminary Competition of the FIFA World Cup 2022. The decision is subject to appeal.”
Safa lodged an official complaint against the result of the match between Bafana Bafana and the Black Stars last month, demanding an investigation into the performance of Senegalese referee Maguette Ndiaye and his two Senegalese assistant referees Djibril Camara and Daouda Gueye.
This after Bafana Bafana suffered a 1-0 loss in their Group G Fifa World Cup qualifier at Cape Coast Stadium, but Safa claimed the match had been decided by the match officials, after Ghana was awarded a dubious penalty in the dying minutes of the match.
Fifa’s decision means that Ghana will advance to the last stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Shortly after the news broke, Safa released a short statement on their official website, indicating they may appeal the decision:
The South African Football Association (SAFA) will consider its options after the world football governing body (FIFA) dismissed its protest following Bafana Bafana’s controversial 1-0 loss to the Black Stars of Ghana last month.
SAFA CEO, Advocate Tebogo Monthlante said once SAFA gets reasons for the outcome, will sit down and weigh its options.
“We have received the decision without details and we will request FIFA for the reasons and consider our options.”
Recently, Motlanthe stated they were ready to move to the Court Arbitration for Sports (CAS) should Safa feel unsatisfied by the outcome of their appeal.
Meanwhile, an appeal by Benin about substitutions made by DR Congo in another crunch qualifier on the same day has also been thrown out.
It means, as it stands, that 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.
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.