South Africa In Trouble As FIFA Cancels World Cup Match
Just a day after suffering a humiliating home defeat against Cape Verde in a World Cup qualifying match, FIFA compounded South Africa’s misery when it cancelled an earlier match in November last year involving the country and Senegal which the former won 2-1 . Some people apparently weren’t happy with the referee’s handling of the match, thus necessitating an inquest by the soccer ruling body which came out with the decision not just on South Africa but the Ghanaian referee that officiated the match. A release by FIFA on Wednesday states: “The Bureau for the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers ordered a replay of the qualification match between South Africa and Senegal held on 12 November 2016. This decision follows the confirmation of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to uphold the lifetime ban of match referee, Jospeh Lamptey, for match manipulation, the ruling imposed by the FIFA Disciplinary and Appeal Committees. The match will be replayed within the November 2017 international window, with the exact date to be confirmed in due course. As stated in the FIFA World Cup regulations, this decision shall come into effect immediately but shall be subject to confirmation by the Organising Committee for FIFA Competitions at its next meeting, scheduled for 14 September.”
Prior to the decision, South Africa occupied the last position on group D with 4 points from 4 matches, three of which were from the now reversed win against Senegal, two short of group leader, Burkina Faso, followed by Cape Verde and Senegal with 6 and 5 points respectively. But what FIFA’S decision, if confirmed by the organising committee, has done is to throw a lifeline to Senegal to now top the group. The West Africans, considered one of Africa’s strongest sides, will now fancy their chances of picking the group’s soul ticket.
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