ESPN: Nigeria appeal to FIFA over several DRC players breaking nationality rules

According to ESPN, Nigeria hopes to rekindle its hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup by appealing to FIFA that the Democratic Republic of Congo used as many as nine ineligible players in last month's World Cup qualifying play-off.

The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has joined the Cameroonian Football Federation in filing a similar complaint with FIFA regarding the eligibility of some European-born players who changed their nationality to represent the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in international competitions.

On November 16, Nigeria lost 3-4 to the DRC on penalties in the African qualifying play-off final, securing the DRC's place in the FIFA continental play-offs.

The DRC was drawn to face the winner of the semi-final between New Caledonia and Jamaica. The winner of the final will secure one of the final spots in next year's World Cup finals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

However, the NFF is now questioning the DRC's use of several dual-nationality players during the World Cup qualifying series, claiming these players are ineligible due to failure to complete the required nationality conversion procedures.

Reports suggest that between six and nine DRC players used in the qualifiers may have converted their international eligibility but may not have renounced their European passports according to DRC law before representing the country.

Nigerian Football Federation Secretary General Mohammed Sanusi told reporters, “The laws of the Democratic Republic of Congo prohibit dual citizenship. Many of them hold European passports, some French, some Dutch. The rules are very clear, and we can't say much now, but we have submitted our protest to FIFA.”

“Some players completed the conversion in just three months, so in our view, this is considered a violation of the rules, which is why we made that decision.”

Although the Democratic Republic of Congo's constitution does not recognize dual citizenship, FIFA's own rules only require players to hold the passport of their country of origin to be eligible to play for that country. FIFA approved their participation based on the players holding valid Democratic Republic of Congo passports.

All the players involved hold Congolese passports, but Sanusi claims FIFA was deceived into issuing these permits.

Nigerian Football Federation Secretary General Mohammed Sanusi stated, “FIFA's rules differ from those of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is why FIFA approved them. FIFA stipulates that once you have a passport from your country of origin, you are eligible. For now, they are eligible because they have received FIFA's approval.”

“But our view is that FIFA was misled in approving them because ensuring compliance with Democratic Republic of Congo law is not FIFA's responsibility. FIFA operates according to its own regulations and approved them based on the documents submitted to FIFA. But we must say, this is fraudulent.”

FIFA has not yet responded to the appeal, but a Nigerian Football Federation official told ESPN that the world's governing body for football is investigating the matter and is expected to make a decision before the intercontinental play-offs in March.

It is unclear whether the appeal will be successful, but if successful, it will reopen Nigeria's path to the World Cup qualifiers, giving them a second chance in the same series.

In the previous round of qualifiers, South Africa was penalized and deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player, but Nigeria failed to capitalize on the opportunity, ultimately finishing second in their group, behind South Africa.