Nigeria’s Chelle calls on FIFA to act ‘quickly’ over Mokoena’s yellow card blunder

JOHANNESBURG - Nigeria head coach Eric Chelle has called on FIFA to quickly resolve the issue around Teboho Mokoena’s suspension as CAF qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup come to a head.

Chelle made the comments ahead of the Super Eagles’ Group C meeting with South Africa at the Free State Stadium on Tuesday night.

Mokoena was ineligible to play when Lesotho played South Africa in March but he did not lodge a formal protest within the required timeframe after the match.

“I’m just the coach, I lead my team, what happens around my team and around this game in terms of the yellow card [on Mokoena], there’s an organisation whose name it’s FIFA, they need to manage it,” said Chelle on the ongoing administrative matter.

“Now, this is not my problem. My problem is my players first because they are focused. They want to play a great game here and I feel like, we have to think about our game, not about what happens around the game and around the story. But the reality if I can tell you, I think FIFA needs to manage it quickly.”

Coming into the 8^th game of qualifying in Group C, the scenario is simple for both teams.

A South Africa win, combined with dropped points for Benin and Rwanda in the respective clashes, will see Hugo Broos’ side through to a first World Cup since 2010.

This is while Nigeria needs to win all their remaining qualifiers if they are to seal a spot at next year's global showpiece event.

“It is a big opportunity for us tomorrow because if we win this game, we have ‘qualified’," Broos said ahead of the showdown.

“Not mathematically but it will be a miracle if we don’t qualify. It is an opportunity for us to win the game but we are playing against good opponents.

“We can’t think that because they [Nigeria] are six points behind us, they are not a good team anymore. Their players are playing for big teams in Europe and that means they have quality. We don’t have fear to play this game, we had a fantastic qualifying programme until now. We lost in Rwanda but that was not because of us but the situation.

“It was scandal that a World Cup qualifier could be played on such a pitch. This is the reason we lost that game and for the rest we did what we had to do by winning games we had to win, and we were happy with a draw whenever we got one.”

Defensive changes are expected for Bafana, with Nyiko Mobbie ruled out of the clash due to an eye injury, while Thabiso Monyane was called up to replace him.

Siyabonga Ngezana could make a return, having been rested in the 2-0 win over Lesotho on Friday to avoid him picking up another yellow card that would have ruled him out of this game.

“Before the game on Friday, we had four players who had one yellow card,” Broos said on if there would be changes to his starting lineup.

“It was Khuliso [Mudau], but Khuliso is not with us. It was [Siyabonga] Ngezana, it was Aubrey [Modiba], and it was [Lyle] Foster, so we couldn’t put them all on the bench and hope, and as a precaution for the game of tomorrow.

“We couldn’t do that. So, we took a little risk with Foster as a striker. Normally, strikers don’t get yellow cards. And with Aubrey, that was a risk. But everything went well. So, this guy [Ngezana], I put him on the bench because I didn’t want to let them play and get the stupid yellow card. So that should mean that he was not able to play tomorrow [because of suspension]. So again, there are. We took some precautions on Friday, and it went well.”