Fifa allowed DR Congo to play at World Cup despite reports of ineligible player
Fifa allowed the Democratic Republic of the Congo to take part in this summer’s World Cup despite reports that an internal inquiry found the nation had fielded an ineligible player in qualifying, the reports said. The goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi, who played for the DRC at the tournament and featured against England in the last 32, was identified in those reports as the player at issue.
Nigeria lodged a complaint over apparent use of ineligible players during the World Cup playoff tie between the two nations, which the DRC won on penalties in November. Reporting by the New York Times and Le Monde indicated Fifa investigators were aware of Mpasi’s situation before the DRC defeated Jamaica in the final intercontinental playoff round in March. Faced with a range of potential responses, including banning the DRC from the playoffs, Fifa rejected Nigeria’s complaint on the basis that it had not been submitted within the required timeframe.
Fifa’s internal work reportedly found that Mpasi, born in France and a former France youth player, had never completed the process of switching nationalities. No sanction was imposed on the Congolese federation, Fecofa, despite those findings.
Nigeria appealed Fifa’s decision. Government representatives have suggested they could seek financial compensation for economic losses arising from the result, with a member of the national sports commission telling ESPN: "Nothing has been decided yet, but we will seriously consider seeking compensation from Fifa for all of the economic losses this has cost Nigeria."
Concacaf issued a statement saying it "takes player eligibility matters very seriously and expects the applicable regulations and procedures to be applied consistently and fairly in all competitions" and asked that any "concerns regarding player eligibility" be "thoroughly reviewed and addressed through Fifa’s appropriate governance and disciplinary bodies." Fifa, Concacaf, Caf, the Nigeria Football Federation and Fecofa were all approached for comment.
The episode has added to scrutiny of Fifa governance. Fifa is reported to stress that its investigative teams operate independently and that the president has no input into their proceedings; Fifa has denied that its president, Gianni Infantino, played a part in the decision-making over Mpasi. Infantino’s name remains in focus in part because Véron Mosengo-Omba, described as a former university associate of the president, was elected unopposed as president of Fecofa this May.
On Tuesday the Norwegian football federation confirmed it had submitted a three-pronged complaint to Fifa over governance, citing the decision to overturn a red card awarded to the USA’s Folarin Balogun after a telephone intervention by Donald Trump, the Fifa peace prize, and the abandoned proposal to sell a share in the World Cup known as the Fifa Forward Enterprise scheme. "Each of these cases must be assessed based on the facts of each individual case," said the president of the NFF, Lise Klaveness. "At the same time, the cases point to a more fundamental question: has Fifa’s position, authority or influence been used in a way that was not appropriate, and if so, did the mechanisms that were supposed to prevent this function work as they should?"
Nigeria’s appeal of Fifa’s rejection remains the immediate formal step in the dispute over the playoff tie, and government officials have signalled possible legal or financial action as the next course.