Nigeria is challenging Congo DR’s use of up to nine allegedly ineligible players in their 2026 World Cup qualifying playoff.
The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), following a similar complaint from Cameroon, claims some Congolese players who were born in Europe did not properly complete the nationality switch process.
Congo DR beat Nigeria 4-3 on penalties on November 16 to advance to the FIFA intercontinental playoffs, where they will face the winner of New Caledonia vs. Jamaica.
The NFF argues that the use of these players violated eligibility rules, as reports suggest six to nine players may not have surrendered their European passports in line with Congolese law before representing the country.
“The Congolese rules say you cannot have dual nationality,” NFF general secretary Mohammed Sanusi told reporters on Tuesday. “There are so many of them that have European passports, some of them French passports, some of them Dutch passports. The rules are very clear. We cannot say anything now but we have submitted our protest to FIFA.
“There are players that got theirs in just three months. So there is to us, what is considered as a breach of the regulation. That is why took that decision.”
While the Congolese Constitution does not recognize dual citizenship, FIFA’s own regulations only require players to hold the passports of the representative country to be cleared to play for that country, and it was based on holding valid Congolese passports that FIFA cleared the players to play.
Nigeria claims FIFA was deceived
All the players involved hold Congolese passports, but Sanusi claims that FIFA were deceived into issuing those clearances
“Our contention is that FIFA was deceived into clearing them because it is not the responsibility of FIFA to make sure that the regulations of Congo are abided by. FIFA goes by its own regulations, and it was on the basis of what was presented to FIFA that they cleared them. But we are saying that it was fraudulent.”
FIFA has yet to respond to the complaint, but ESPN reports that the issue is being investigated by world football’s governing body and a decision is expected before the intercontinental playoffs in March.
Reacting to the news, DR Congo’s Fecofa Director of Football Hérita Ilunga said, “FIFA does not reason in terms of legal nationality but rather in terms of sporting nationality. If that is the case, I advise you, dear Naija brothers, to focus more on the AFCON,” he wrote on X.
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