Chairman of the National Sports Commission, NSC, Shehu Dikko, has said Nigeria’s case before FIFA over the eligibility of some Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) players in the World Cup qualifiers is strong and “very tight.”
Dikko made the statement on Friday while speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show, amid reports surrounding FIFA’s scrutiny of DR Congo over the alleged fielding of ineligible players.
According to him, the issue of player eligibility was identified by Nigerian football authorities well before the playoff defeat to DR Congo and was not an afterthought following the loss.
He explained that the NSC and the Nigeria Football Federation closely monitored developments after DR Congo named players of other nationalities in their squad for the playoffs announced on November 1, ahead of the November 13 matches.
Dikko said the situation raised concern because some of the players had not received FIFA clearance at the time they were named in the squad.
He cited a similar case involving South Africa, who were previously docked three points for fielding an ineligible player, as evidence of how strict FIFA’s rules are on player eligibility.
“So, when we saw the squad that was put in place for the playoffs, the squad was named on November 1 and the playoffs were on November 13, we looked at the squad of our opponents. We found out from the beginning that even the Congolese had already named players of other nationalities who had not been cleared by FIFA in their squad. That was an alarm, so everybody started monitoring, even though the players were not being played.
“This issue did not start because we lost the playoffs. We had been watching what they were doing, and then we found out a day before the qualifiers that they were getting clearances so that the players were qualified to play.
“But if you look back, what gave them the confidence to name a player of another nationality in their squad to play a match two weeks later, when he wasn’t qualified to play for them until the day before the match they received permission? That raised alarm for us after the qualifiers,” he said.
Dikko disclosed that the players in question only received clearance from FIFA a day before the qualifiers, a development that further heightened suspicion.
Following the playoff loss, he said Nigeria engaged legal and international law experts to review the situation, adding that their findings suggested possible misrepresentation by DR Congo to FIFA in obtaining the clearances.
He stressed that the issuance of passports and nationality must strictly follow legal procedures, warning that failure to do so undermines the integrity of the game.
“It is the responsibility of a federation to ensure passports are issued in line with the law. You cannot just issue a passport to someone and change his nationality. If the passport is not issued according to the law of that country, it affects everything,” Dikko said.
He confirmed that Nigeria has since filed a formal complaint with FIFA, noting that the matter is currently under review.
While acknowledging Nigeria’s defeat in the playoffs, Dikko insisted that the country is not acting as a sore loser but is simply relying on the rules of the game.
“Yes, we lost. Unfortunately, everybody was angry about it. We are not sore losers, but it’s part of the rules. We bring in our legal team, we bring in our international lawyers. We look at the legal opinion, we look at the laws, and we found out there is some suspicion that some things have not been done right according to the laws of the game.
“There are probably, from what we found out, misrepresentations to FIFA to obtain those clearances,” he added.
