The South African Football Association (SAFA) appears to have avoided potential sanctions as the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) will not be lodging a formal protest with FIFA, Sportswire has learned.
Reports had indicated that LeFA was considering a complaint to FIFA regarding Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Teboho Mokoena’s participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Lesotho at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Friday. They alleged that Mokoena should have been suspended due to accumulated yellow cards.
Mokoena, who was named in the Team of the Tournament during the African Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, had received yellow cards against Benin in November 2023 in Durban and against Zimbabwe in June last year in Bloemfontein.
This accumulation should have triggered a one-match suspension. Sources suggest that CAF did not notify SAFA of the player’s suspension.
LeFA had a window of 24 hours to file a protest with FIFA regarding Mokoena’s ineligibility. However, they opted not to do so, potentially sparing SAFA from disciplinary action.
Aware of the potential issue, SAFA omitted Mokoena from their starting lineup for the subsequent match against Benin on Tuesday. He was not included in the squad. Bafana Bafana proceeded to secure a 2-0 victory in the Group C qualifying match, held at the neutral venue of Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan.
Sportswire has received confirmation from LeFA that they “will not be pursuing any protest.” This victory, Bafana Bafana’s fourth in six qualifying matches and their second in the March FIFA window, extends their lead at the top of Group C to 13 points, five points ahead of second-placed Rwanda, who drew with Lesotho.
It remains to be seen what action, if any, FIFA will take when the World Cup qualifiers resume in September.