FIFA have dismissed the appeal from the Beninese Football Federation (FBF) against The Democratic Republic of Congo after their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier debacle.
Like the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Benin needed just a single point to win their group but history repeated itself as the DRC won 2-0 in Kinshasa.
However, Benin appealed the result with Dieumerci Mbokani and Ben Malango’s goals sending them to the play-offs for Qatar 2022.
According to their official statement to FIFA, the opening goal was an ‘imaginary penalty’ that affected the outcome of the game while the substitution issue of making five changes at different intervals was cited as ‘cheating’ the official FIFA laws.
With only three intervals allowed to make substitutions in the game, it’s been reported that the issue will go down as an issue towards the officials and not the DRC.
Following 48 hours of nerves, FIFA sent out a statement to the media which suggests they do not consider the appeal and the Leopards will compete in the third round.
The FIFA Disciplinary Commission only touched on the number of yellow cards and potential player suspensions in future fixtures, according to Patrick Lupika on Canal+.
“FIFA is not asking the Congolese authorities for any explanation on this issue of substitutions,” he stated after the document was released.
DR Congo joins, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Mali, Cameroon and Nigeria – while South Africa are contesting Ghana’s qualification.
