Fifa will review South Africa’s defeat by Ghana in 2022 World Cup qualifying after the South Africa Football Association (Safa) made a complaint to the world governing body, BBC Sport reports. 

Bafana Bafana needed a draw against the West Africans on Sunday to reach the third and final round of African qualifying, but Ghana won 1-0 with a controversial first-half penalty in Cape Coast.

Safa chief executive Tebogo Mothlante said South Africa were “robbed” by “questionable decisions” made by the Senegalese officiating team, which was headed by referee Maguette Ndiaye.

The pivotal moment came when Black Stars midfielder Daniel Amartey went down following what appeared minimal contact from defender Rushine de Reuck, who was booked for his challenge.

The result meant Ghana finished above South Africa in Group G on goals scored and progressed to Africa’s play-offs next March.

“The match officials have decided the game, which is not what is supposed to happen,” Mothlante added.

A statement said: “Fifa has received a complaint from the South African FA in relation to this matter and will review it.”

South Africa believe a precedent was set five years ago when Bafana Bafana were forced to replay a 2018 World Cup qualifier after a referee was found guilty of match manipulation which benefited them.

Bafana Bafana had originally beaten Senegal 2-1, but Fifa later concluded that Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey “clearly took two wrong decisions” to facilitate “a minimum number of goals to make certain bets successful”.

The errors included the award of a penalty when Senegal’s Kalidou Koulibaly was adjudged to have handled the ball, despite replays showing it had hit his knee.

Fifa took the unusual step of ordering the game to be replayed. South Africa lost 2-0 as Senegal qualified for the World Cup in Russia.

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Group C Liberia 0-2 Nigeria – Cape Verde 2-1 Central African Republic

Only a draw will be enough for Nigeria to reach the final round of the World Cup qualifiers after the Super Eagles 2-0 win over Liberia on Saturday. In Group D, Cameroon must beat the Ivory Coast in Douala on Tuesday to secure their place in the playoffs rounds.

Goals from Victor Osimhen and Ahmed Musa ensure Nigeria takes control over the Lone Stars at the Stade Ibn Batouta, Tangier.

As a result, the Super Eagles, who will host Cape Verde, in a top-of-the-table Group C clash on Tuesday, only need a point to book their place in the final round of Qatar 2022 qualifiers.

The win over Liberia gave Nigeria 12 points and Cape Verde 10 after five rounds, while the Central African Republic (four) and Liberia (three) are out of the running.

Group B Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Tunisia

Hosts Equatorial Guinea stunned fancied Tunisia with a 1-0 win in Malabo with a late goal from Pablo Ganet, who plays in the fourth tier of Spanish club football.

The two countries are on 10 points in Group B. However, Tunisia has a better goal advantage and will take on Zambia at home on Tuesday while Equatorial Guinea lock horns with Mauritania away at the same time. 

Group D Ivory Coast 3-0 Mozambique – Malawi 0-4 Cameroon

Ivory Coast will take on Cameroon in a top of table encounter in the final group match in Douala on Tuesday and must avoid a defeat to progress to the next stage of the competition. 

Cameroon was superb against 10-man Malawi in Johannesburg on Saturday first-half goals from captain Vincent Aboubakar and Franck Zambo Anguissa. A late brace from Christian Bassogog handed Cameroon a 4-0 victory while Ivory Coast thrashed Mozambique in Cotonou on Saturday.

Egypt, Mali, Morocco and Senegal have already secured their places in the play-offs. The five to represent Africa in Qatar are to be decided in the final round. 

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Group A Djibouti 0-4 Algeria – Burkina Faso 1-1 Niger

Algeria proved too strong again for Djibouti as they extended their unbeaten run to 32 games win a 4-0 at Cairo International Stadium in Egypt on Friday in their 2022 World Cup qualifier.

However, the reigning African champions, who scored 12 goals over two legs against Djibouti, will only need to avoid a defeat at home against Burkina Faso on November 16 for a place in the final round of playoffs.

Youcef Belaili opened the scoring for Algeria in the 29th minute, before Mohamed Benrahma doubled their advantage in the 40th minute. Sofiane Feghouli and Islam Slimani wrapped the win in the 42nd and 86th minutes, respectively.

Elsewhere in the group, Niger held second-placed Burkina Faso to a 1-1 draw. Visitors Niger scored first in the 34th minute through Youssef Oumanou’s penalty before Issoufou Dayo’s 55th-minute penalty levelled things up ten minutes after the break.

Group F Angola 2-2 Egypt – Gabon 1-0 Libya

The Pharaohs of Egypt survived after coming from two goals down in Luanda on Friday to ensure a 2-2 draw against hosts Angola.

As a result, they booked a play-off final round qualification spot to the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Group I Sudan 0-3 Morocco – Guinea 0-0 Guinea-Bissau

After five straight wins, already qualified Morocco will take on Guinea on Tuesday in their final group game.

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The world football governing body (FIFA) has indicated that they are willing to hold urgent talks with authorities regarding the football dispute in Kenya.

On Thursday, Kenya football FA was disbanded over corruption allegations as government officials sought to prosecute any culpable football officials.

In a bid to settle recent fracas, Fifa has intervened less than 24 hours after the Ministry of Sports, Culture, and Heritage installed a caretaker committee to oversee football activities in the country.

According to a signed letter dated November 11 2021, by Chief Member Associations Officer Kenny Jean-Marie, Fifa is concerned with the FKF caretaker committee set up by Kenya’s Ministry of Sports.

The Fifa letter reads, “First and foremost, we would like to address our concern with respect to the abrupt announcement of the aforementioned decision taken by the Cabinet Secretary. As a matter of fact, we deem fit to highlight that all FIFA member associations, including the FKF, are statutorily required to manage their affairs independently and without undue influence of any third parties (cf. art. 14 par. 1 lit. i) and art. 19 para. 1 of FIFA Statutes). Any failure to these obligations may lead to sanctions provided for in the FIFA Statutes, even if the third party influence was not the fault of the member association concerned (cf. art. 14 par. 3 of the FIFA Statutes).

“In esse, we consider that the aforementioned decision by the Cabinet Secretary to appoint a FKF Caretaker Committee in lieu of the elected FKF Executive Committee is undoubtedly contrary to the above principles. Should this be considered as undue government interference in the internal affairs of the FKF, it could lead to a ban imposed on the FKF by the competent FIFA body. In such a case, all of Kenyan football would suffer the consequences, and not just the individuals directly involved in the undue interference. In actuality, it is up to FIFA alone, on the basis of serious and well-founded information as well as under exceptional circumstances, to order the dismissal of executive bodies of member associations followed by the appointment of a normalization committee (cf. art. 8 par. 2 of FIFA Statutes).

Therefore, we kindly ask you to inform the Cabinet Secretary that in the event her decision to appoint a FKF Caretaker Committee and correlated secretariat was to be upheld, we would have no other choice than to submit the present matter to the Bureau of FIFA Council for consideration and decision.

Finally, and as referred to in the Cabinet Secretary’s letter of 18 October 2021, we would like to emphasize on our willingness to hold a meeting with the FKF and the Ministry of Sport as soon as possible so as to address any concern both sides may have and, all together, to decide on a way forward for the sake of Kenyan football,”

We thank you for taking note of the above and kindly ask you to communicate the contents of this letter to the competent authorities.”

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Group E Rwanda 0-3 Mali – Uganda 1-1 Kenya

The Eagles of  Mali are through to the play-off round of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers after beating 10-man Rwanda 2-0 in Kigali on Thursday. 

Mali finished the day with 13 points amassed a four-point lead over second-placed Uganda Cranes, who they will face in their final match on Tuesday in Morocco.

Elsewhere in the group, Uganda was held to a 1-1 draw by third-placed Kenya in Kampala. Both nations are out of the race to qualify.

Group G Ethiopia 1-1 Ghana – South Africa 1-1 Zimbabwe

A Teboho Mokoena’s 26th-minute goal gave South Africa a precious 1-0 victory over Zimbabwe at the FNB Stadium. As a result, the Bafana Bafana inched closer to the play-off round, having secured 13 points three ahead of the Black Stars, who shared spoils with Ethiopia at the Orlando Stadium in South Africa on Thursday. 

Andre Ayew’s first-half superb free-kick was cancelled out by Getaneh Kebede’s equaliser as Ethiopia came from behind to secure a point in African Qualifiers against Ghana in South Africa.

Group H Togo 1-1 Senegal

Congo 1-1 Namibia

In Lome, substitute Habib Diallo cancelled out defender Pape Abou Cisse’s own goal in the second minute of added as they preserved their unbeaten run in the group phase with a 1-1 draw against Togo.

Senegal, who had already won Group H for the play-off stages in Africa, will face Congo Brazzaville in their last match on Sunday, while Togo will be away to Namibia.

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Comoros Football Federation has confirmed that their Coelacanths will engage Sierra Leone in a crunch international friendly on 13th November 2021 in Turkey.

Fédération de Football des Comores says the match will be played in Turkey during this month’s International break as both nations prepare for the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon next year.

A year after his last match, Chaker Alhadhur reunites with the Coelacanths. The right-back was unavailable for several months due to injury.

Coach Amir Abdou named two new names to his squad. They are Louisville City centre back Alexis Souahy and Karim Mohamed, 20, from Clermont Foot.

In September, they defeated Seychelles 7-1 and Burundi 1-0 during their first International friendlies ahead of AFCON.

Comoros will play in Group C against Gabon and Morocco on January 10, 14, 2022, respectively, at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium before facing Ghana in their final match.

On the other hand, Sierra Leone played to a 1-1 draw with South Sudan, defeated the Gambia 2-1 before losing to Morocco home-based side during the October international break.

The Leone Stars will open Group E against Algeria at the 50,000 seaters Japoma Stadium on January 11 2022, before taking on Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea. 

Connect with us @football_sierra, on Facebook/ Instagram Football Sierra Leone, writer John Bangura.