Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has begun the process of appealing the ruling of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee after its petition against the DR Congo national football team was dismissed following their 2026 World Cup qualifying play off clash.
The appeal follows FIFA’s decision to reject Nigeria’s complaint regarding the eligibility of several Congolese players who featured in the match played in Rabat, Morocco on 16 November 2025. The encounter, which served as the final of the African play offs, ended 1-1 after regulation and extra time before DR Congo secured victory via a penalty shootout.
Confirming the development, NFF General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi stated that the federation is not satisfied with FIFA’s verdict and has already moved to challenge the outcome in a statement via its website.
“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,” he said.
The NFF had initially submitted its petition to FIFA shortly after the match, raising concerns over what it described as irregularities in the documentation used to secure eligibility for a number of DR Congo players.
Nigeria’s complaint centres on claims that some of the players may not have properly completed the process required to switch national allegiance. According to the federation, Congolese law does not permit dual nationality, meaning players are expected to renounce previous citizenships before representing the country.
Further concerns were raised about players reportedly still holding European passports despite featuring for DR Congo, with questions over whether such situations comply with both national regulations and FIFA eligibility rules.
“We’re waiting. The Congolese rules say you cannot have a dual citizenship or nationality. Wan-Bissaka has a European passport; there are some of them that have French passports, some of them Dutch passports. The rules are very clear, and we have submitted our petition,” he said.
“That’s why FIFA cleared them. FIFA rules say once you have passports of your country, you’re eligible, as far as FIFA is concerned, they are eligible and that’s why they were cleared. But right now, our concern is that FIFA was deceived into clearing them. It is not the responsibility of FIFA to ensure that the regulations of Congo are followed. FIFA goes by its own regulations, and it was on the basis of what was submitted to FIFA that they cleared them. What we are saying is that it was fraudulent,” he added.
The appeal process now sets the stage for a further review of the case, as Nigeria seek to overturn the decision and challenge the outcome of the play off that ended their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup.
