South African Football Association (SAFA) Chief Executive Officer Tebogo Motlanthe is “confident” Fifa will order a replay of their match against Ghana as the world football governing body committee meets to decide Bafana’s World Cup fate on Tuesday.
Bafana Bafana lost 1-0 courtesy of Andre Ayew's first-half penalty at the Cape Coast stadium.
The defeat stole the headlines worldwide as the South African Football Association lodged an official complaint with FIFA regarding inconsistent match officiating by Senegalese referee Maguette Ndiaye.
In response, Ghana first slammed SAFA for the “shocking and disrespectful” match manipulation allegations before writing to Fifa, where they further criticised the South African body for sending “the respected Fifa Disciplinary Committee on a fool’s errand or fishing.”
“They [GFA] are trying to shift the focus,” said Motlanthe as per Phakaaathi.
“What we are complaining about is the conduct of the match officials as governed by article 18 of Fifa’s Disciplinary Code. You can’t make a protest about the referee’s decisions. We believe his [the referee’s] conduct was manipulated.
“They [Fifa] would have just sent it [Safa’s complaint] back otherwise. We will hear from them tomorrow [November 23]. We are still confident.”
If Fifa dismisses SAFA’s protest, the Black Stars will go on to participate in the play-offs of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.