September 12 – The knock-on effect of FIFA ordering a replay of the South Africa-Senegal World Cup qualifier because of corrupt officiating has taken another twist with group leader Burkina Faso criticising the move as unconstitutional.
South Africa’s Football Association (SAFA) held emergency talks on Monday following FIFA’s decision which was based on “match manipulation” by Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey who has been banned for life.
South Africa won the game 2-1 but the bigger picture is that Senegal are only a point behind Burkina Faso after four qualifiers, prompting the Burkino Faso FA (FBF) to issue a strongly worded condemnation of FIFA’s ruling, describing it as “illegal.”
Nowhere, it says, does the FIFA disciplinary code “dealing with cases of unlawful influence on the outcome of a match … in any way mention the possibility to repeat a game.”
As a result, the FBF accuses FIFA of deliberate favouritism and demands the decision be reversed in order to “save us from a referral to the Court of Arbitration for Sports.”
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