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Fifa have told the South African Football Association (Safa) they cannot appeal the decision that Bafana Bafana’s home 2018 World Cup qualifier against Senegal will have to be replayed this November. This was confirmed to The Citizen newspaper yesterday by Safa’s lawyer Norman Arendse, though he also indicated there could be a window of opportunity before Fifa’s Organising Committee ratify the decision on September 14.
“Fifa’s communication says the decision has been made and that there is no right to appeal, though it does still have to be presented to their organising committee on September 14, so between now and then if we are going to make an appeal or a presentation, then we must do so,” said Arendse yesterday.
Fifa confirmed on Wednesday that the game would be replayed, following a Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) ruling that upheld Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey’s life-ban, after he was found guilty by Fifa of match manipulation in Bafana’s 2-1 Group D victory over Senegal on November 12, 2016 at the Peter Mokaba Stadium.
Arendse yesterday spoke of Fifa’s decision as a “bombshell,” with Safa clearly not happy with a lack of information Fifa have provided them with since the match last November.
“We have requested more information from Fifa, so that we can take an informed decision. The last time we officially heard from Fifa was shortly after the match (with Senegal) to say there was a complaint and that they intend to investigate and will keep us informed. Then nine or ten months later, they dropped this bombshell and told us the guy (Lamptey) was found guilty by the Court of Arbitration and now they have decided to reschedule the match.”
“We have to understand what was found, did they establish that there was a third party that paid money to fix the match?”
Fifa have made it clear that neither Safa nor the Senegalese Football Federation are being accused of any wrongdoing. It was the Senegalese Football Federation, indeed, who filed the complaint about Lamptey’s refereeing with Fifa after the match in Polokwane.
Cas told The Citizen yesterday that details of their decision in the case between Fifa and Lamptey would be released in due course.