Ineligible Player: South Africa not yet cleared – NFF

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports that FIFA cleared South Africa of using an ineligible player during a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Lesotho.

Bafana Bafana midfielder, Teboho Mokoena, had received two yellow cards during the qualifiers, which meant he should have been suspended for the match against Lesotho in March.

However, he still played in the game.
According to FIFA rules, if an ineligible player takes part in a qualifying match, the team can lose three points—if the opposing team protests within 24 hours after the game.

Some reports on Tuesday claimed FIFA, through its official X (Twitter) account, had cleared South Africa of any wrongdoing.

But NFF’s Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that they have not received any official message from FIFA on the matter.

“There has been no official communication to that effect. What people are reporting is a tweet on FIFA’s X account. We don’t regard that as official communication,” he said.