South Africa could face a points deduction in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers if a report about Teboho Mokoena is confirmed by the relevant authorities.
Bafana Bafana midfielder, Teboho Mokoena, who was allegedly ineligible to play against Lesotho due to accumulated yellow cards, was fielded in the match. Mokoena had already received yellow cards in South Africa’s opening qualifier against Benin (Match Day 1) and another one against Zimbabwe (Match Day 4). Despite this, he played 81 minutes in the Match Day 5 encounter against Lesotho.
This could potentially be a violation of FIFA regulations, which state that a player who receives two yellow cards in separate matches must serve a one-match suspension.
Though the suspension rule has traditionally applied to the standard six-game format, there are concerns that if the same rule is enforced for the current ten-game qualification format, South Africa could face a three-point deduction for fielding an ineligible player.