Nigeria allege DR Congo fielded ineligible players in World Cup playoff

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Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup - CAF Qualifiers - Playoffs - Final - Nigeria v Democratic Republic of Congo - Prince Moulay Hassan Stadium, Rabat, Morocco - November 16, 2025 Democratic Republic of Congo players line up during a penalty shootout REUTERS/Abdelmjid Rizkou

Dec 18 - Nigeria have submitted a petition to FIFA alleging the Democratic Republic of Congo fielded ineligible players in their African qualification play-off for next years World Cup, a federation (NFF) spokesperson ‍said.

DR ​Congo beat Nigeria on penalties last month to keep ‍alive their hopes of appearing at the tournament in North America, and are set to compete in ​an ​inter-confederation playoff in March where six teams will chase two places at the 48-team finals.

The NFF said several dual-nationality players had been cleared to play for DR Congo without ‍meeting the required criteria.

The Congolese rules say you cannot have dual nationality, NFF general secretary ​Mohammed Sanusi told reporters.

There are so ⁠many of them that have European passports, some of them French passports, some of them Dutch passports.

FIFA regulations say once you have the passport of your country, you are eligible. As far as we are ​concerned, they are eligible that is why they are cleared by FIFA.

But our contention is that FIFA ‌was deceived into clearing them because it ​is not the responsibility of FIFA to make sure that the regulations of