{"id":106476,"date":"2025-03-27T09:52:50","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T07:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/south-africa-faces-3-point-deduction-in-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers"},"modified":"2025-04-04T14:53:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T12:53:24","slug":"south-africa-faces-3-point-deduction-in-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/south-africa-faces-3-point-deduction-in-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers","title":{"rendered":"South Africa Faces 3-Point Deduction In FIFA World Cup Qualifiers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>South Africa faces a potential 3-point deduction in the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers after allegedly fielding an ineligible player against Lesotho last week.<\/p>\n<p>Bafana Bafana midfielder Teboho Mokoena may have been ineligible to play in the crucial Matchday 5 game against Lesotho after accumulating two yellow cards in previous matches (against Benin and Zimbabwe).<\/p>\n<p>According to FIFA rules, a player who receives two yellow cards in separate matches must serve a one-match suspension, meaning Mokoena should not have played in the Lesotho match.<\/p>\n<p>However, Mokoena was included in the starting lineup and played 81 minutes in the Lesotho match. If confirmed, this could violate FIFA\u2019s qualification regulations, leading to a potential points deduction for South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>The issue is tied to FIFA\u2019s World Cup Qualifiers Rulebook, sub-section 9, which mandates a one-match suspension for players with two yellow cards.<br \/>\nIf Mokoena\u2019s ineligibility is confirmed, South Africa could lose the 3 points from their 2-0 win over Lesotho.<\/p>\n<p>South Africa currently leads Group C with 13 points, ahead of Rwanda (8 points) and Benin (8 points).<\/p>\n<p>A points deduction would reduce Bafana Bafana\u2019s total points tally to 10, making the race for automatic qualification tighter, especially with Nigeria (7 points) also in contention.<\/p>\n<p>However, they might avoid this penalty because Lesotho failed to lodge a formal protest within FIFA\u2019s stipulated 24-hour window after the match.<\/p>\n<p>While the points deduction could still be a possibility, South Africa may instead face alternative penalties, such as a fine.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Zimbabwe<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Zimbabwe. South Africa faces a potential 3-point deduction in the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers after allegedly fielding an ineligible player against Lesotho last week. Bafana Bafana midfielder Teboho Mokoena may have been ineligible to play in the crucial Matchday 5 game against Lesotho after accumulating two yellow cards in previous matches [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":106475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,16],"tags":[18258,15582,4097,727,18278,332,19],"class_list":["post-106476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-2026-fifa-world-cup","tag-2026-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers","tag-bafana-bafana","tag-fifa","tag-points-deduction","tag-south-africa","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>South Africa Faces 3-Point Deduction In FIFA World Cup Qualifiers - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South Africa faces a potential 3-point deduction in the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers after allegedly fielding ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/south-africa-faces-3-point-deduction-in-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Africa Faces 3-Point Deduction In FIFA World Cup Qualifiers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Africa faces a potential 3-point deduction in the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers after allegedly fielding ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/south-africa-faces-3-point-deduction-in-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-27T07:52:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-04T12:53:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1743057114.460806.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1079\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/south-africa-faces-3-point-deduction-in-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/south-africa-faces-3-point-deduction-in-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"South Africa Faces 3-Point Deduction In FIFA World Cup Qualifiers\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-27T07:52:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-04T12:53:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/south-africa-faces-3-point-deduction-in-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers\"},\"wordCount\":263,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/south-africa-faces-3-point-deduction-in-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1743057114.460806.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2026 FIFA World Cup\",\"2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers\",\"Bafana Bafana\",\"FIFA\",\"Points Deduction\",\"South africa\",\"Zimbabwe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/south-africa-faces-3-point-deduction-in-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/south-africa-faces-3-point-deduction-in-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/south-africa-faces-3-point-deduction-in-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers\",\"name\":\"South Africa Faces 3-Point Deduction In FIFA World Cup Qualifiers - 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