The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said that it has commenced the process of appealing the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee to reject its petition against the Democratic Republic of Congo in a 2026 World Cup playoff match against the Super Eagles in Rabat, Morocco, last year.
The protest questioned the eligibility of certain players fielded by Congo in a decisive 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying playoff.
DR Congo defeated Nigeria 4-3 after a penalty shootout to qualify as Africa’s representative in the inter-confederation playoff scheduled for March 27 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Followers had been apprehensive that the decision could go against Nigeria following FIFA’s recent utterances, particularly its focus on the DR Congo team ahead of the March 27 playoff.
These fears were confirmed yesterday, when the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), in a statement, said that it has started the process of appealing FIFA’s decision to throw out its petition.
The NFF, through its secretary general, Mohammed Sanusi, said, “We have received the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on our petition, but we are not satisfied with the decision, which rejected our petition. I want to assure Nigerians that the NFF has immediately commenced the process of appealing the decision.”
The NFF had presented a petition to world football-governing body FIFA days after the said match, based on perceived fraud in the issuance of passports that qualified a number of players of the Democratic Republic of Congo for the playoffs.
The match, played at the Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat, was the final of the African play-offs, which the Democratic Republic of Congo won in a sudden-death penalty shootout after both teams were tied at 1-1 following regulation and extra time.
Packaged by Lanre Olabisi
