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Hugo Broos and Danny JordaanBackpage
Kiplagat Sang

'SAFA should be charged, but it is a brutal but fair ruling from FIFA! See what love for Mamelodi Sundowns has done; when has FIFA ever ruled in favour of SA? Nigeria should be taken to court for scoring with a handball' - Fans

SA finally learnt of FIFA's ruling in the case that involved the suspended Bafana Bafana midfielder. The deduction of points comes with the qualifiers set to conclude in October, putting Hugo Broos' boys in a very complicated position despite the hard work that took them to the top of their group.

Bafana Bafana's World Cup dream suffered a huge setback when FIFA moved to reduce their points tally by three for fielding suspended Teboho Mokoena in a qualifier against Lesotho.

Since it emerged that the Mamelodi Sundowns star was ineligible to play against Lesotho, South Africa has been on tenterhooks waiting for the outcome from FIFA.

On Monday, the soccer governing body made its ruling, and it hit hard; three points were deducted, and Bafana's three-point gap advantage in Group C was wiped out.

Consequently, Bafana, now with 14 points, slipped to second place - because of an inferior goal difference - as Benin went top.

The FIFA ruling means that the World Cup slots in Group C will be tightly fought for, with Nigeria also in the mix.

Now, after the ruling, GOAL takes a look at how the fans reacted.

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  • Danny Jordaan, SAFABackpage

    Grounds for appeal

    Procedurally, we have grounds to appeal, as no complaint was lodged within the prescribed time, BUT what are the chances of SAFA messing up that appeal too, as SAFA messed up a simple procedure of managing players? The Department of Sports, Arts & Culture should charge SAFA on our behalf for this - Zuko

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  • Teboho Mokoena, Bafana Bafana, August 2025Backpage

    Brutal but fair ruling

    Oof, that's a brutal but fair ruling from FIFA. Fielding an ineligible player is such a costly unforced error. A real lesson in getting the basics right - Rose Baker

  • Teboho Mokoena, Mamelodi Sundowns

    Love for Downs

    You see what the love for Mamelodi Sundowns has done - The Guy

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  • Teboho Mokoena, Bafana BafanaBackpage

    Biased FIFA?

    When has @FIFAcom ever ruled in favour of SA in any case? This was expected. For some reason, when it's SA, the rules change. Remember, with the Ghana case, SA lost the case because @FIFAcom said they lodged a dispute late, and the required fee was not paid on time - LOVELY.COM

  • Hugo Broos, Bafana BafanaBackpage

    Nation embarrassed

    Someone must be sacked for this error; this is absolutely embarrassing to the nation. The Parliament sports committee must call this entire SAFA executive to answer what happened. Time for Danny Jordaan and his entire crew to quit; if it were in another country, everyone would go - HLONY

  • 2026 FIFA World Cup, Qualifier - South Africa v NigeriaGetty Images Sport

    Take Nigeria to court

    Don’t let this case slide; you must appeal, and you shouldn’t let the game against Nigeria, where they scored with a handball pass, slide. Take them to court. This tendency of you relaxing must end. Be active like the Nigerian Football Association; fight until the end - Kyle Rose

  • Teboho Mokoena, Mamelodi SundownsBackpage

    Complete mess

    Obviously, I didn’t anticipate anything more than this. This is a complete mess, and that team manager boy must be sacked with immediate effect. This is a costly mistake and can’t be tolerated - Peter MA

  • Bafana Bafana, August 2025Backpage

    Hire capable management

    Just send an apology to South Africans and give necessary support to Bafana Bafana by hiring capable management. Don't embarrass yourselves even further - Ntokozo Ndlovu

  • Danny Jordaan, SAFABackpage

    Incompetent SAFA

    Everything that has been achieved in terms of football, whether it's men, women, or juniors, has been despite and not because of y'all. You are incompetent, and you will wonder why our football is not progressing. Just when we are doing well, y'all have to ruin it like always - Nombulelo MaJobe

  • Nigeria, August 2025Backpage

    Only advantage

    The only good thing about the situation is that Benin is still going to play against Nigeria, which might work in our favour, but it will also need us to win all our remaining games - Morena Letsolo

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