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Bafana have a healthy lead at the top of Group C, but it could well not be that healthy soon.
Teboho Mokoena played for Bafana Bafana against Lesotho on Friday. But he probably wasn't allowed to. Picture: Backpagepix
Bafana Bafana’s bid to qualify for the 2026 Fifa World Cup should really only be about the fairytale.
ALSO READ: Lesotho confirm complaint against Bafana over Mokoena
It should be the story of Hugo Broos and his Bafana Bafana side sweeping aside all who cross their path, en route to a swashbuckling five point lead at the top of Group C.
We should just be talking about a group of players that have brought pride back to wearing the national jersey; a team that have developed an indefatigable spirit under Broos’ intelligent leadership.
Barring a major on-field meltdown, a five point lead should be enough to see Bafana to the World Cup finals over the last four matches of their qualifying campaign.
And yet here we are. Bafana’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup have been put in doubt by an administrative mess entirely of their own making.
It seems clear, if you read the Fifa rules, that midfielder Teboho Mokoena should have been suspended for Friday’s 2-0 Group C win over Lesotho at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
The first whiff of this came on Tuesday from the Nigerian media. Nigeria are making an horrible mess of their own World Cup qualifying campaign, so it only makes sense that they would be looking for every possible loophole.
The Lesotho Football Association have since made it known that they have sent an official enquiry on the matter to Fifa. There has been some speculation about whether the complaint arrived at Fifa’s door quickly enough.
But if precedent is followed the decision will be simple – Fifa will award a 3-0 win to Lesotho for Friday’s match. Bafana’s Broos refused to comment on the matter after Tuesday’s 2-0 win in Benin.
Inside the Belgian may well be seething. Whoever in the Bafana set-up is responsible for picking up that Mokoena should not have played has plenty to answer for.
ALSO READ: Broos hails Bafana, refuses to comment on Mokoena
Attention to detail matters. We all remember the Mbombela Stadium fiasco, when Pitso Mosimane’s Bafana Bafana celebrated a goalless draw against Sierra Leone in October 2011.
They thought they had qualified for the 2012 AFCON. But they hadn’t read the rules. Now we must pray history does not repeat itself.
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