The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says FIFA has rejected its petition against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) for allegedly fielding ineligible players during the World Cup playoffs in November 2025.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mohammed Sanusi, NFF’s general secretary, said the federation is “not satisfied with the decision” and has begun the appeal process.
“We have received the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on our petition, but we are not satisfied with the decision, which rejected our petition. I want to assure Nigerians that the NFF has immediately commenced the process of appealing the decision,” the NFF secretary said.
DR Congo defeated the Super Eagles on penalties to claim Africa’s sole ticket for the interconfederational playoffs for the World Cup.
In December, the NFF filed a petition with FIFA, accusing the Congolese FA of deceit in clearing players for its national team, despite their status contravening the country’s citizenship laws.
NFF then added that several of the allegedly affected players featured for DR Congo in the African playoffs final against Nigeria.
The latest ruling ends months of anxious waits for FIFA’s decision on the case. NFF must file its appeal of the decision before the FIFA Appeal within the next 10 days. If still unsatisfied with the appeal committee’s decision, the case can be transferred to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).
The interconfederational playoffs will take place between March 26 and 31. DR Congo are scheduled to play the winners of the Jamaica-New Caledonia in the final of their bracket of the interconfederational playoffs. The winners of the final game will secure one of the last tickets to the World Cup.
