Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian

Fifa investigates CAR violence ahead of World Cup qualifier

"No decision has yet been taken on the issue, but we are following the situation in the Central African Republic [CAR] closely and will make a decision at the appropriate time when we have all the relevant facts at our disposal," Fifa said in a statement on Saturday.

Fifa had ruled that the situation in CAR made it a risk to stage their World Cup qualifier against Bafana Bafana in the central African country, and the game was switched to a neutral venue in Cameroon.

The decision worked in favour of South Africa, who won the return-leg clash in Yaounde 3-0 to keep alive their slim hopes of remaining in contention for next year's World Cup in Brazil.

Bafana's prospects appeared to have ended irrevocably after their 2-1 defeat to group leaders Ethiopia in Addis Ababa the following week, which seemingly gave the host nation an unassailable five-point lead in the group with one round of matches to play.

But in a bizarre turnaround, Fifa announced they were investigating the presence of an ineligible player in the Ethiopian line-up during their 2-1 win over Botswana on June 8.

If found guilty of fielding a player with two yellow cards from previous World Cup qualifying matches – Ethiopia have since admitted the error – the standard penalty facing them would be the loss of three points and the fixture being ruled a 3-0 win for Botswana.

Although this would result in Ethiopia still heading the World Cup qualifying group by two points, a back-from-the-dead Bafana have a superior goal difference and could keep their hopes of going to Brazil alive with a home victory over Botswana, provided Ethiopia draw or lose against CAR. – Sapa