True Reason FIFA Dismissed Nigeria’s Protest Against DR Congo Over Ineligible Player

• A recent report has confirmed that FIFA found Nigeria’s case against DR Congo over fielding ineligible players valid
• However, the world football governing body dismissed the case, and Super Eagles missed the 2026 FIFA World Cup
• Legit.ng examines the actual reason FIFA dismissed the case, as against other rumours in the Nigerian media

The Nigeria Football Federation has been justified after a recent report confirmed that FIFA found their case against DR Congo’s ineligible players authentic, but it was dismissed regardless.

Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, their consecutive tournament missed after losing to the Leopards of the Democratic Republic of Congo 4-3 on penalties in the final of the African series for the intercontinental playoff.

The Super Eagles and DR Congo finished second in their respective groups behind South Africa and Senegal during the CAF qualifying series for the 2026 FIFA World Cup to qualify for the playoffs.

Nigeria defeated Gabon 4-1 in the semi-final, while DR Congo beat Cameroon before the two sides clashed in the final at the Prince Moulay Hassan Stadium in Rabat, Morocco.

Details of NFF’s petition to FIFA

The NFF submitted a petition to FIFA, which they confirmed to Legit.ng, alleging that some DR Congo players were ineligible to feature in the match.

The players were of dual nationality, most of whom recently switched their international allegiance to represent the Central African country.

NFF claimed that these players’ citizenship contradicted Congolese laws, which forbid players holding dual nationality as they did not relinquish their English, French, Belgian and Swiss passports.

FIFA dismissed Nigeria’s case two weeks before the Leopards defeated Jamaica in the intercontinental playoff to qualify for their first World Cup since 1974, when the country was still called Zaire and all players and staff had not even been born.

A recent report by The Athletic has confirmed that FIFA indeed found authenticity in Nigeria’s petition, but dismissed it on technical grounds despite having multiple options to sanction DR Congo.

The world football governing body found goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi ineligible for failing to complete the documentation of his switch having played for French youth teams.

Mpasi went ahead to play at the World Cup, helping DR Congo reach the Round of 32, where they were eliminated by the Three Lions of England.

Why FIFA dismissed Nigeria’s case

FIFA’s options were: awarding the match to Nigeria, imposing fines on DR Congo, replacing DR Congo with Nigeria in the playoff against Jamaica, or doing nothing.

The body dismissed the case entirely on the basis that Nigeria had filed its complaint too late, choosing technicality over the actual legality of the case, despite claims in the Nigerian media that NFF failed to follow the right procedure, including failure to pay 1,000 Swiss Francs.

The NFF’s push was to have DR Congo ejected from the playoff, which could have translated to a Nigeria win over Jamaica and subsequently a place at the World Cup.

Technical dismissal sparked reform in Nigerian football

Nigeria’s absence at the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, a consecutive absence, started an uprising in Nigerian football, which eventually consumed the NFF board led by Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau.

Super Falcons’ failure to qualify for the Brazil 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup was the last straw that broke the camel’s back and led to Gusau’s resignation.

In the article by The Athletic, Gusau claimed that FIFA said nothing about the case because FIFA knew it would become a serious crisis for the federation.

“They just kept quiet, and they can’t tell anyone because they know it’s going to be a serious crisis for them,” he said.

NFF confirmed in a statement in March that it will pursue the case up to the highest level, which is the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but there have yet to be further details on that.

Financial cost of Super Eagles’ absence

Legit.ng previously reported how much NFF missed out on after the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.

The federation would have received ₦18.5 billion in preparation and participation fees, provided the team was eliminated in the group stage.