This is shocking news coming from FIFA. Nigeria almost lost her place in the 2018 FIFA World Cup after the country was penalised for fielding an ineligible player for the match Against Algeria. To this effect, the soccer governing body stripped Nigeria of the victory against Algeria, deducting 3 points from Nigeria and awarding 3 points and 3 goals to Algeria.
However, this does not prevent Nigeria from being at next year’s World Cup because the country had already qualified before the last match which she is being penalised for. Otherwise Zambia which cam second in the group would have taken Nigeria’s position in Russia.
Read the FIFA decision below;
Latest decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee
12 Dec 2017
Following the recent meeting of the Disciplinary Committee, FIFA can today confirm the latest sanctions imposed for incidents that occurred during the preliminary competition for the FIFA World Cup™ as well as in international friendlies.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has been sanctioned for fielding an ineligible player in the match between Algeria and Nigeria on 10 November 2017. The match is declared to be forfeited and awarded 3-0 in favour of Algeria, with the NFF also receiving a fine of CHF 6,000.
The sanction relates to the player Abdullahi Shehu failing to serve the automatic one-match suspension imposed on him as a result of receiving a caution in two separate matches of the same competition. 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.
published on FIFA.com.