By Andrew Warshaw
September 13 – Cape Verde’s World Cup dream has been turned into the ultimate nightmare after the unheralded African country had its hopes of qualifying for the finals for the first time dashed for fielding an ineligible player.
FIFA ruled on Thursday that Fernando Varela had played in last weekend’s 2-0 upset over Tunisia whilst serving a suspension for unsporting conduct.
The result has now been officially reclassified as a 3-0 win for Tunisia. To make matters worse, the Cape Verde Football Association has also been fined $6,400.
The ruling means Tunisia finish five points above the tiny island in African qualifying Group B and will take its place in the forthcoming playoff matches to decide which five teams from the continent advance to next year’s finals in Brazil. The draw for that is on Monday next week.
Varela received a straight red card for unsporting conduct towards a match official during another qualifier in March but failed to serve his four-game ban.
“By means of a telephone conference, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has today taken a decision to sanction the Cape Verdean Football Association (FCF) for fielding an ineligible player,” a FIFA statement read.
Cape Verde, with a population of little over half a million, would have been the smallest ever African country to make it to the World Cup. They have only ever played in one major international tournament: this year’s Africa Cup of Nations where they reached the quarterfinals.
Ironically, in the game Varela was dismissed, Cape Verde were themselves awarded the points after FIFA ruled opponents Equatorial Guinea, who won the game 4-3, had also used an ineligible player.
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