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The South African Football Association (SAFA) has been sanctioned by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee for fielding Teboho Mokoena, an ineligible player, in the March 21, 2025, 2026 FIFA World Cup preliminary qualifier between South Africa and Lesotho.
FIFA claims that SAFA’s action violated both Article 14 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Preliminary Competition Regulations and Article 19 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. Consequently, a 3-0 scoreline was given to Lesotho, and the game was forfeited in their favour.
In addition, SAFA has been fined CHF 10,000, while Mokoena himself has received an official warning.
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The decision was formally communicated to the parties today. Under FIFA rules, they have ten days to request a detailed, motivated decision, which would subsequently be published on legal.fifa.com. The ruling remains subject to appeal before the FIFA Appeal Committee.
Hugo Broos’ men currently sit at the top of their World Cup qualification Group C, having collected 17 points from eight games.
Bafana had a three-point gap to second-placed Benin, but have now been overtaken by the Squirrels after their 2-0 win against Lesotho was written off and resulted as 0-3 due to the administrative error.
