Nigeria head coach Eric Chelle has broken his silence on Teboho Mokoena’s suspension case ahead of meeting Bafana Bafana in the FIFA World Cup qualifier.
With a spot in the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico, and Canada on the line, the two teams are set to clash on Tuesday at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.
The build-up to this crucial encounter and the previous one against Lesotho, have been mired in controversy surrounding the Mokoena case, a matter that many in and around Nigeria feel FIFA has not adequately resolved.
Mokoena was ineligible to play when Lesotho met SA in March at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium. Likuena discovered that midfielder was suspended and should have missed the game. However, they did not lodge a formal protest within the required timeframe after the match.
While Chelle maintained that his priority remains the job on the pitch, he urged FIFA to “manage the issue very quickly”.
“I’m just the coach, I lead my team, what happens around my team and around this game in terms of the yellow card [on Mokoena], there’s an organisation whose name it’s FIFA, they need to manage it,” said Chelle during the pre-match press conference on Monday at Free State Stadium.
“Now, this is not my problem. My problem is my players first because they are focused. They want to play a great game here and I feel like, we have to think about our game, not about what happens around the game and around the story.
“But the reality if I can tell you, I think FIFA needs to manage it quickly.”
