Ghana’s place in the play-offs of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers was confirmed on Friday after FIFA rejected the complaint lodged by South Africa regarding their defeat against the Black Stars in November.
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“The protest lodged by South Africa has been declared inadmissible by the Disciplinary Committee as it did not meet the requirements foreseen under art. 46 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and art. 14 of the Regulations of the Preliminary Competition of the FIFA World Cup 2022,” FIFA said in a statement.
The decision is however subject to appeal, FIFA added.
South Africa wanted the crucial qualifier against Ghana in which they lost 1-0 replayed, and also protested about Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguette.
South African Football Association (SAF) were convinced they had provided enough evidence to back their match manipulation claims and were confident of FIFA granting their request for a replay and also banning Maguette.
Maguette awarded Ghana a contentious first-half penalty, which was scored by Andre Ayew to secure victory and the Black Stars passage to the final qualifying round.
The ruling means Ghana will be represented in the play-offs draw which was moved from December 18 to January 26 2021.
Ten teams for play-offs are Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Egypt, Tunisia, DR Congo, Mali, Algeria, Cameroon and Morocco.
Credit: 3News
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