The New York Times has reported that world football governing body, FIFA’s own legal officials, determined DR Congo goalkeeper, Lionel Mpasi, was ineligible to compete against Nigeria during the last African World Cup playoffs in Rabat, Morocco because his change of international association from France had not been completed.
This report has justified the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) appeal to FIFA to disqualify the Congolese from the intercontinental playoffs and replaced by the Super Eagles but was ignored by FIFA.
The New York Times report which reviewed internal FIFA documents, reported that FIFA’s lawyers discovered the problem in March, before DR Congo’s intercontinental playoff against Jamaica, but no disciplinary action was taken. DR Congo went on to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
But with the report by the leading American publication indicting FIFA of not taking a decision on the Nigerian appeal, senior officials of Nigeria’s apex National Sports Commission (NSC) are mulling filing for compensation from the world football governing body.
“We are seriously considering seeking compensation from FIFA for all of the economic loses this has cost Nigeria,” the NSC official told ESPN this week.
“The revenue that the Super Eagles and the NFF would have received from participating at the World Cup, the exposure that players would have got, transfers, the sponsorship fees, even the boost to the Nigerian economy.
“We are exploring all our options as a country and nothing is off the table,” observed the official without letting out of the bag how Nigeria will actualize getting the compensation.
ESPN insisted in its report that there is a precedent for FIFA compensating a federation following a disputed World Cup elimination, although under substantially different circumstances.
FIFA paid the Football Association of Ireland €5 million after Ireland threatened legal action following its elimination by France in qualification for the 2010 World Cup. Thierry Henry handled the ball before setting up William Gallas for the goal that sent France through.
The payment was initially structured as an interest-free loan and later written off. FIFA subsequently described the arrangement as a one-off.
Nigeria’s potential case would be different because its argument centres on FIFA’s administration and enforcement of its own eligibility regulations.
The NFF first raised eligibility concerns after DR Congo eliminated the Super Eagles from the African World Cup playoffs in November. The teams drew 1-1 after extra time before DR Congo won 4-3 on penalties.
The original complaint was wider than the issue subsequently discovered with Mpasi, with the NFF alleging that several DR Congo players were improperly cleared by FIFA because of questions over their nationality status under Congolese law.
Then-NFF president Ibrahim Gusau said at the time that FIFA had been misled when approving the players.
“The Congolese rules say you cannot have dual nationality,” Gusau said. “FIFA regulations say once you have the passport of your country, you are eligible. As far as we are concerned, they are eligible, that is why they are cleared by FIFA. But our contention is that FIFA was deceived into clearing them.”
The NSC official said the Mpasi revelations supported Nigeria’s argument that FIFA should have investigated the eligibility questions regardless of the procedural status of Nigeria’s correspondence.
“Nigeria has been vindicated,” the official said. “When we said we had written a petition to FIFA, people accused us of all sorts of things. I think this has proven that we were correct that DRC fielded ineligible players.
“We did not need to file a protest. So the issue of filing late did not arise,” the official said. “We only sent in a petition to remind them to apply the rules, the same way they did when South Africa fielded an ineligible player, and when we (Nigeria) fielded an ineligible player against Algeria during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
“By rule, these sanctions kick in automatically once it is identified.”
Bolivia forfeited two 2018 World Cup qualifiers for fielding Nelson Cabrera, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) later confirmed FIFA’s authority to open disciplinary proceedings on its own initiative.
Greece was also sanctioned in 2016 for fielding Apostolos Giannou without completing his change of association from Australia. More recently, South Africa forfeited a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Lesotho after fielding the suspended Teboho Mokoena.
In addition to potentially demanding compensation, Nigeria now wants FIFA to reopen the DR Congo case, with the NSC official arguing that the latest evidence raises questions that extend beyond just the procedural handling of the NFF’s original petition.
“Nigeria will be seeking for FIFA to review the case because the case is about fraud and fraud does not have a time limit for punishment,” the official said. “DRC should be made to face consequences for what they have done, to serve as a lesson to others who may want to try the same thing in future.”