Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has voiced his suspicions regarding the recent FIFA ruling concerning Teboho Mokoena and the national team, explaining why he believes external influence played a decisive role in the final verdict.
It was on Monday afternoon when South Africa’s worst fears were confirmed as FIFA announced that Bafana Bafana would be docked three points in the World Cup qualifiers for fielding an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, in their match against Lesotho in March.
As a result, SAFA were also ordered to pay a fine of 10,000 Swiss francs [R216,500] to FIFA, while Mokoena himself received a warning. SAFA has stated its intention to appeal the decision, despite being guilty as charged.
Bafana had secured a comfortable 2-0 victory against Likuena, but midfielder Mokoena should have been serving a one-match suspension due to an accumulation of two yellow cards. He received his first caution against Benin in November 2023 and his second against Zimbabwe in June 2024.
The consequence of missing this crucial technicality is severe. Bafana Bafana will suffer a 3-0 technical defeat and will drop from first to second spot in Group C. Bafana’s points are reduced from 17 to 14, level with Benin. Their goal difference will be slashed to [+3] while Benin now top the group with a better goal difference [+4].
Broos’ troops now need maximum points from their two remaining home fixtures against Zimbabwe and Rwanda this month, while hoping Benin drops points in their tough away games against Rwanda and Nigeria.
BROOS ALLEGES ‘LOBBYING BEHIND THE SCENES’ IN FIFA MOKOENA RULING
Speaking after announcing his 23-man squad for the remaining qualifiers, Bafana coach Broos strongly insinuated that external forces influenced the FIFA decision.
Without mentioning names, it is widely suspected that Broos was referring to Nigeria, who are believed to have pushed the matter and brought the technicality to light, as neither Lesotho nor South Africa was initially aware of the suspension.
Broos’s remarks suggest that he suspects some form of lobbying led to the case being revived and ruled upon.
While acknowledging that the South African camp did commit an error that warranted punishment, Broos’s primary concern remains the suspicious intervention that seemed to force the issue back onto the agenda and ultimately led to the ruling.
BROOS SHOCKED BY FIFA’S ‘VERY STRANGE’ REOPENING OF MOKOENA CASE
“For the first two hours upon learning of the news, I was down because I didn’t expect it—certainly not the way it went,” said Broos. “The committee of sanctions met three times; they were together during the period of the Lesotho game and again two weeks ago in September, and three times South Africa was not mentioned.
“One day after the last meeting, we suddenly got a letter from FIFA that the case had been reopened. Very strange. What happened in the previous sanction meetings of FIFA?
“So that means that there has been a lot of lobbying behind the scenes, that’s for sure. How can you have three meetings of the committee of sanctions and never talk about South Africa, and suddenly there is a letter from FIFA. Okay, it has happened and one week later we knew three points were deducted.
“It is not pleasing to have such a message, but we know that we did something that is not allowed, and we are punished for that now. What can we say about it?”
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