Unsurprisingly, Congo has just been inflicted with a substantial double sanction after withdrawing from Niger at the start of the month in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers…
For not showing up in Kinshasa to to challenge Niger (3rd day of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers), the
Congo was officially declared forfeited by FIFA. The Red Devils will therefore not be able to have the opportunity to play this meeting in the event of a possible postponement. As a reminder, the Ministry of Sports had prohibited the team from traveling to the neighbor of the RC
Congowhere the match had to be relocated, as a sign of disagreement with Niger, accused of having betrayed its word.
“In accordance with Article 58 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (…) The Congo – Niger match initially scheduled for June 6, 2024 as part of the preliminary competition of the 2026 World Cup, is declared lost by forfeit 3-0 by the Congolese national team,” FIFA informed, before announcing a second sanction: “The Congolese Football Federation is fined CHF 10,000 (approximately EUR 10,4000).”
🚨 Niger have been awarded a 3-0 victory,
FIFA for their abandoned 2026 World Cup qualifiers fixture against
Congo.#Afrosport #FIFA #WCQ #football pic.twitter.com/oT7rAwXZNM— AfroSport (@AfroSportTV) June 27, 2024
Congo can appeal
If it wishes to contest this decision, the Congolese Federation has the possibility of appealing. The Red Devils, who on the other hand honored their match against Morocco a few days later in Agadir (6-0 defeat), can however consider themselves “lucky” insofar as they escape the threat of outright disqualification which hovered over them.
The Isaac Ngata gang will therefore be able to continue the rest of the qualifiers. But with 0 points on the clock in Group E, the dreams of the 2026 World Cup already seem to be gone. THE Morocco
leads the way with 9 points while Niger occupies second place with 6 units.
2024-06-27 19:27:11
#Congo #doubly #sanctioned #FIFA
