SAFA Relieved As Lesotho Opts Against Protest Over Mokoena’s Eligibility
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.
19 Comments
I wish SAFA punishes those who failed to alert others of this embarrassing situation. This is downright unprofessional and ought to be a punishable infraction
We all know OK LEFA Received a bribe that’s why they can’t protest
“We?” You and who, don’t include us without valid evidence
Speak for yourself. We don’t.
Lesotho was outside the protest timeframe, which is 24 hours. In view of that, their decision not to protest is not based on sympathy or friendship, but based on the fact that the was not winnable. It’s just my view
i so wish Lesotho qualifies in runners up…I wanna see Trumps face ,when he said
No one knows Lesotho
Look guys SA and Lesotho is one country, Bafana needs those 3 points
Please gents man leave the protest.lets unite as long as 1 of us is going to World cup not Nigeria
We should not be happy at all with our own house,whether Lesotho files a complaint or not,we should do things by the rules,someone must be accountable and punished for that. points deduction is painful,what about all the efforts the boys gave in the tournament, is going to demoralise them.
Our S A player’s put so much into their training and determination to make their country proud and then you get the Management of our players who are incompetent. Heads should roll. This mismanagement should be punished. Our country’s honour, pride and hard work by our players are involved. It is also embarrassing to the rest of the world that SAFA could slip up so badly. We love our country don’t let a few people dishonour us and get away with it.
FIFA can still penalize Bafana even without a complain from Lesotho. Nigeria can also lodge a protest as an affected party.
The team manager can not take the blame alone and leaving the coaching staff including Tebogo mokoena as a professional player,who must know his bookings.
Poor from our leadership
Consequence management
Our S A player’s put so much into their training and determination to make their country proud and then you get the Management of our players who are incompetent. Heads should roll. This mismanagement should be punished. Our country’s honour, pride and hard work by our players are involved. It is also embarrassing to the rest of the world that SAFA could slip up so badly.
SAFA management is careless. Why are they not keeping the records of all important matters like this sothat they can monitor them regularly a couple of days before matches.
This is downright incompetency, the officials responsible for those record keeping have the best resources some of us can only dream of. They enjoy all the traveling and accommodation perks yet sleep on duty. But in a country like ours the matter will die down and it will be forgotten soon. In some countries that could be treated tantamount to treason.
They just interviewed the Lesotho football association secretary general on Newzroom Africa and he conformined that they had asked FIFA to investigate the matter. He also confirmed they only asked FIFA on Tuesday which is outside the window to lodge a protest.
The person who is trying to simulate engagement by creating comments is doing too much. It looks dodge having the same person with the same name write 11 comments over 2 days with no comment from anyone else. At least change the name so it looks like there is some type of engagement
Complain before 24h.
Complain before 24h.ask fifa.