Cape Town — South Africa’s World Cup journey is officially over after world governing body FIFA reportedly dismissed SAFA’s complaint.
Globally respected Ghanian broadcast journalist Juliet Bawuah tweeted that the reason for the dismissal was because the complaint “did not meet the requirements under article 46 and 14 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and Regulations of the Preliminary Competition of the FIFA World Cup 2022 respectively.”
BREAK: Protest by South Africa against Ghana declared inadmissible.
— Juliet Bawuah (@julietbawuah) December 3, 2021
Reason? It did not meet the requirements under article 46 and 14 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and Regulations of the Preliminary Competition of the FIFA World Cup 2022 respectively.
Last month, South Africa were beaten in a crucial World Cup qualifier by Ghana thanks to a dubious penalty after the Black Stars’ Daniel Amartey went down in the box after minimal contact from Rushine de Reuk.
In a press conference a week after the game, Safa president Danny Jordaan hinted that there may have been matchfixing involved in the match after they found evidence of betting spikes during the game.
Ghana will now advance to the final round of World Cup qualifiers — to be played between 21 and 29 March next yeat — to determine who will qualify for the global showpiece in Qatar.
The other teams in the third round are Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, Egypt, Senegal, Morocco, and DR Congo.
More to follow
IOL Sport