Former Nigerian international Samuel Sodje has expressed disappointment at Nigerian supporters for celebrating South Africa’s point deduction by FIFA.
On Monday, FIFA Disciplinary Committee sanctioned Bafana Bafana over an offense committed in a World Cup qualifying match in March.
The country had fielded Teboho Mokoena in a 2-1 win against Lesotho, with the player ineligible to feature in the match after accumulating yellow cards in previous matches.
They have now been fined by the football association and were docked three points, with Lesotho officially awarded a 3-0 win for the match.
South Africa were previously top of Group C with 17 points and were in pole position to clinch the group’s automatic ticket to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
However, the decision throws the group wide open and sends Benin Republic top on goal difference, with Nigeria in third place and just three points behind.
The Super Eagles had endured a disappointing campaign, but have now been offered a glimmer of hope as a win in their remaining two matches could send them a straight ticket to next year’s showpiece event.
What Samuel Sodje said about FIFA’s sanctions on South Africa
Giving his opinion in an interview, the former Nigerian international admitted that Nigerians should not celebrate the sanctions, but should be focused on achieving maximum points from their remaining matches.
“It’s nice to see FIFA doing what they have to do. For South Africa, they did break the rules, and they’ve taken three points off them. I think that’s normal. What’s surprising now is Nigerians [are] seeing this as big news. I think it’s embarrassing”, the ex-international admitted.
“I think we’ve put ourselves in a situation where we had to depend on taken-off South Africa to qualify. If we think we have a chance—I don’t think we do—if we have any slim chance… hopefully we can earn it on the pitch.
“With the squad we have, with the kind of players we have in Nigeria, a big country like Nigeria, footballing nation [like Nigeria] shouldn’t be going into the discussion about celebrating three points being taken off South Africa”, Sodje added.
“So yeah, to answer your question, it’s embarrassing. Hopefully we can learn from this and going forward to get things right and not put ourselves in a situation where we have to depend on people losing points.”
