2018 World Cup: South Africa Consider Appeal After Replay Order From FIFA (Full Story)

Forum 6 years ago

2018 World Cup: South Africa Consider Appeal After Replay Order From FIFA (Full Story)

South Africa may appeal against Fifa’s decision to order a replay of the World Cup qualifier against Senegal because of “match manipulation” by the referee.

South Africa beat Senegal 2-1 at home last November but match referee Joseph Lamptey has since been banned for life.

Neither South Africa nor Senegal are accused of any wrongdoing.

“We’re grappling for answers and asking Fifa for them before we decide whether to take the matter forward,” said South African FA lawyer Norman Arendse.

Arendse, who chairs the legal committee of the South African Football Association (Safa), says his organisation has never been advised by football’s world governing body how the match was fixed.

“Safa cannot accept (the game was manipulated) because we have got absolutely no details of the alleged manipulation, what the nature of it was and what it all involved,” he told BBC World Service’s Newsday programme.

“Is (the referee) just a corrupt individual? Was he bribed by a third party outside of the match to influence the outcome? We just don’t know.

“That is the most unpalatable thing for us – to accept an outcome to which we should have been party. We’ve never ever been called upon to put our side of the story in relation to the game.”