The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has stripped Nigeria of the one point they earned from their final 2018 World Cup qualifier against Algeria in Constantine on November 10, after the world football body discovered that the Super Eagles fielded an ineligible player, Shehu Abdullahi.
FIFA also fined the Nigeria Football Federation 6,000 Swiss Francs (about N2,162,923) for the development.
The Eagles had secured Russia 2018 qualification with 13 points in their first five matches, with the bottom-place Algerians eliminated, thus making the game in Constantine, which ended 1-1, a dead rubber.
But FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee stated that Anorthosis Famagusta right-back Abdullahi failed to serve a one-match suspension after being cautioned in two separate games during the qualifiers, and awarded 3-0 in favour of the Desert Foxes.
The Eagles now have 13 points while Algeria, who previously had two points, now have four points in Group B of the African qualifiers but still remain in last place behind Zambia and Cameroon, who have eight and seven points respectively.
“The match is declared to be forfeited and awarded 3-0 in favour of Algeria, with the NFF also receiving a fine of CHF6,000. This sanction bears no impact on the final result of the preliminary competition for the FIFA World Cup since Nigeria had already qualified (and Algeria eliminated) before the match took place,” FIFA said in a statement.
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