{"id":17540,"date":"2026-03-02T19:21:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T19:21:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/?p=17540"},"modified":"2026-03-02T19:21:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T19:21:38","slug":"fifas-delay-in-nigeria-petition-not-unusual-as-dr-congo-await-verdict-gaye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/?p=17540","title":{"rendered":"FIFA\u2019s Delay in Nigeria Petition Not Unusual as DR Congo Await Verdict \u2014 Gaye"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>African football analyst <strong>Mamadou Gaye<\/strong> has played down concerns over <strong>FIFA<\/strong>\u2019s delayed ruling in the case lodged by <strong>Nigeria<\/strong> against <strong>DR Congo<\/strong>, insisting that such timelines are normal in high-stakes World Cup qualifying disputes.<\/p>\n<p>The Leopards booked their place in the next phase of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers after edging Nigeria in a dramatic penalty shootout victory. However, celebrations were tempered after the Super Eagles submitted a formal protest to FIFA, alleging that DR Congo fielded ineligible dual-national players, including <strong>Axel Tuanzebe<\/strong> and <strong>Aaron Wan-Bissaka<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>As the international match window approaches, FIFA has yet to communicate a final decision\u2014leaving DR Congo in a holding pattern despite having won the tie on the pitch.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_17543\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17543\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17543 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gaye.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gaye.jpg 300w, https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gaye-150x84.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-17543\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mamadou Gaye<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Speaking on SuperSport\u2019s <em>Soccer Africa<\/em>, Gaye urged patience and expressed confidence that the Congolese camp has little to fear.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThis is not strange. Let\u2019s wait for FIFA to decide. We have seen rulings made at the eleventh hour before.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Gaye referenced a recent African qualifying precedent involving <strong>South Africa<\/strong>, who were docked points late in the process after fielding <strong>Teboho Mokoena<\/strong> while ineligible, highlighting that FIFA verdicts often arrive close to deadlines.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Nigeria arranging friendly matches against <strong>Iran<\/strong> and <strong>Jordan<\/strong> during the playoff window, Gaye dismissed suggestions that DR Congo\u2019s qualification status is under serious threat.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cNigeria can line up three teams if they want. FIFA is still reviewing the case. The Leopards must stay focused and trust the process.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Gaye also noted that, should Nigeria be dissatisfied with FIFA\u2019s final ruling, the matter could still be escalated to the <strong>Court of Arbitration for Sport<\/strong>, a scenario that could further prolong uncertainty.<\/p>\n<p>For now, DR Congo remain on course for the intercontinental playoff, where they are scheduled to face the winner of the tie between <strong>New Caledonia<\/strong> and <strong>Jamaica<\/strong>, with a coveted spot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup firmly within reach.<\/p>\n<p>For the Leopards, the message is clear: the job was done on the field\u2014and confidence remains high as FIFA\u2019s final whistle is awaited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>African football analyst Mamadou Gaye has played down concerns over FIFA\u2019s delayed ruling in the case lodged by Nigeria against DR Congo, insisting that such timelines are normal in high-stakes World Cup qualifying disputes. The Leopards booked their place in the next phase of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers after edging Nigeria in a dramatic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17540","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17540"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17544,"href":"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17540\/revisions\/17544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.salientspmgt.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}