As if the DR Congo substitution oversight was not enough…FIFA has opened an investigation after the South African Football Association (SAFA) filed a complaint regarding the penalty incident in Bafana Bafana’s decisive qualifying tie at Ghana on Sunday.A Senegalese referee Maguette Ndiaye awarded the hosts with a highly doubtful penalty 33 minutes into the game, which Andre Ayew converted to send Ghana through. FIFA will review the refereeing from Ghana vs South Africa after a complaint from the South African FA.Ghana knocked South Africa out of World Cup qualifying with a 1-0 win thanks to this penalty decision.pic.twitter.com/hceZYGHBnz— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) November 16, 2021 South Africa had only needed a draw to reach the playoffs, but are out of the competition despite being level with the Black Stars at top of the log. They even have the same goal-margin (+4), but this head-to-head battle was decided thanks to that very penalty because Ghana scored one more goal during the group stage than their contenders (7:3, compared with 6:2). THU: 02.30: (1.97) PALMEIRAS (3.40) SAO PAULO (4.00)FIFA has confirmed that it is reviewing the matter without going into details of what the nature of its investigation into the match would entail.”FIFA has received a complaint from the South African FA in relation to this matter and will review it. Please understand we cannot comment further at this stage,” FIFA said on Tuesday in response to a media query over the status of the complaint by SAFA.As we reported on Tuesday, another critical tie has been put under scrutiny after DR Congo’s coach Hector Cuper misinterpreted the substitution rules during their match against Benin.Cuper’s oversight could tarnish DR Congo’s World Cup hopesTeams are allowed to make up to five changes but only during three stoppages, and Cuper made four changes on four different occasions in the second half. After realizing what had happened, Benin FA promptly lodged a complaint to FIFA, hoping that the governing body would void the game they lost 2-0 and thus were eliminated.
