Tuesday 17/March/2026 – 08:28 PM
FIFA rejected Nigeria’s request to exclude the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the qualifiers World Cup 2026.
FIFA rejects Nigeria’s request to exclude the Democratic Republic of Congo from the 2026 World Cup qualifiers
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Nigeria Football Federation confirmed the rejection of his appeal by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, but noted that it had immediately initiated proceedings to appeal the decision.
The Secretary General of the Nigeria Football Federation, Muhammad Sanusi, said: “We have received the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on our petition, but we are not satisfied with the decision that rejected our petition. I would like to assure Nigerians that the Nigeria Football Federation has immediately commenced appeal procedures against the decision.”
FIFA, the international football body, rejected a petition submitted by the Nigerian Football Federation demanding that the Democratic Republic of the Congo be excluded from the qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup due to the fielding of ineligible players against Nigeria in the African playoff last year.
The Nigeria Football Federation has less than 10 days to successfully appeal the decision before the start of the 2026 World Cup inter-confederation play-off tournament, scheduled to begin in Mexico on March 26.
