While the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) has made it known that they’ll protest if Bafana Bafana field Teboho Mokoena in Friday’s World Cup qualifier, retired referee Errol Sweeney has identified a loophole SA could use should Fifa listen to Lesotho’s protest.
LeFA argues that Mokoena should serve a suspension at Free State Stadium for the 6pm match, having played when he was suspended in March in Polokwane, where Bafana beat Likuena 2-0.
Fifa is yet to decide if Bafana should be docked points for fielding Mokoena, who had accumulated two yellow cards and should, as a result, have been ineligible for the first leg. SA’s Group C rivals, Nigeria and Benin, have also told the global football body to dock SA three points.
Mokoena didn’t play in Bafana’s subsequent World Cup qualifier fixture, a 2-0 win over Benin away, three days after the Lesotho game. According to Sweeney, that could be Bafana’s escape clause, should Fifa entertain LeFA’s protest.
We think Safa was afraid of worsening the matter when they spared Mokoena against Benin...that was not him serving his suspension.
— Mokhosi Mohapi, LeFA secretary-general
“Every country or team has a right to protest before any game if they feel there’s a need for that,” Sweeney told Sowetan yesterday. “This Mokoena matter is tricky, but the fact that Bafana didn’t use him in the next game [against Benin] is a loophole, meaning he has effectively served his suspension.”
LeFA secretary-general Mokhosi Mohapi confirmed that they’ll play Friday’s clash against Bafana under protest, arguing that Mokoena missed the Benin clash because Safa was scared of making the situation worse, not because he was serving a suspension.
“We will definitely protest before the game,” Mohapi told Sowetan. “Mokoena has never served his one-match suspension. Can Safa choose which games their players can miss if suspended? We think Safa was afraid of worsening the matter when they spared Mokoena against Benin...that was not him serving his suspension.”
Bafana top Group C of these qualifiers with 13 points, five above second-placed Rwanda, who are tied on points with Benin in third spot, but boast a better goal difference.
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