World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal to be replayed

On Wednesday, FIFA ordered that a World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal be replayed after the match referee was found guilty of match-fixing.

According to FIFA, the Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey manipulated the match by awarding South Africa a penalty for a non-existent handball on November 2016.

That evening, the match ended 2-1 for the Bafana Bafana, however, the result has been annulled and the game will be replayed this November. The exact date is yet to be decided.

The victory over Senegal, was South Africa’s only win in the final round of African qualifiers to the 2018 World Cup.

Lamptey banned for life

In March, the Ghanaian referee was banned for life by FIFA after the governing body found him guilty of breaching the rule relating to “unlawfully influencing match results.”

Lamptey has a history of suspicious performances since he joined FIFA’s list of international referees back in 2005.

In 2010, he was suspended by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after allowing an unlawful goal in an African Champions League semi-final.

Also, last year, the Ghanaian allowed an African Cup of Nations qualifier between Congo and Angola to continue for two minutes longer than the established injury time, awarding a last-minute penalty to Angola.

South Africa considering appeal

The South African Football Association (SAFA) is set to launch an appeal against FIFA’s decision to replay the match against Senegal.

“SAFA is studying the contents of the report and will issue a statement on intentions to challenge that decision,” said SAFA in a statement on Thursday.

“SAFA wishes to also state categorically that it was in no way involved with any wrongdoing related to the actions of the referee, as stated in the FIFA report.”

Also, the Association’s president Danny Jordaan said that FIFA’s decision could set a dangerous precedent.

“If you must start replaying matches where referees make mistakes we will still be playing the league,” told Jordaan to the South African press.

“That referee was appointed by FIFA, that is a FIFA match, it’s not our match so they must deal with their referee and that is the end of the story. It’s not our referee, we did not appoint him and we won the match.”

Currently, Senegal and South Africa are third and fourth respectively in Africa’s Group D behind Burkina Faso and Cape Verde. However, if Senegal were to win the game set to be replayed, they would reach take top spot in the group.

Only the top team of each CAF’s group qualifies for next year’s World Cup in Russia.