‘South Africa are in trouble!’ – Nigeria legend insists Mzansi not yet off the hook over Mokoena Saga

Nigeria legend Sunday Oliseh is convinced FIFA will eventually dock South Africa points for fielding the suspended Teboho Mokoena in the 2-0 win over Lesotho in March.

The Mamelodi Sundowns star was part of the Bafana Bafana team that faced the Crocodiles even after getting two yellow cards in the initial matches. FIFA hasn't acted or said anything on the incident since there was no official complaint by the other teams.

Bafana Bafana have since played Lesotho, again, in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and claimed a 3-0 win to take their points tally to 16 from seven Group C matches. On Tuesday, Hugo Broos' men play the Super Eagles at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.

Oliseh has since explained why he is convinced Bafana Bafana are in trouble.

Will FIFA award Lesotho the three points?

“To the best of my knowledge, South Africa is in trouble; the Football Association is responsible for ensuring that only eligible players are fielded. If a team fields an ineligible player and a valid protest is upheld, standard penalties on the FIFA Disciplinary Code include the forfeiture of the match,” he said on his podcast.

“The result is typically overturned to a 3-0 defeat for the offending team, regardless of the actual score, resulting in the loss of three points for South Africa in this case and an award of three points to Lesotho.

“However, if no valid protest was filed or if FIFA determines extenuating factors, for example, administrative errors without intent penalties could be mitigated or waived,” Oliseh continued.

“For any disciplinary action against South Africa to be taken, the following procedures, to the best of my knowledge, must be followed: there has to be a protest by the opponent, not anybody else. There has to be a protest that is affected directly by this, in this case, Lesotho. 

“The protesting team must submit a written protest to the FIFA match commissioner within two hours of the match's end. This must be followed by a full written report, including a copy of the initial protest, send to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee via email within 24 or 48 hours of the match. Untimely or unfounded protests are disregarded. We now need to find out if Lesotho filed a timely protest in March 2025 when this happened,” he concluded.