FIFA Rejects Nigeria’s Protest Over DR Congo Eligibility Dispute, NFF Confirms

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has announced that FIFA has rejected its petition to disqualify DR Congo from the 2026 World Cup playoffs.

Nigeria had challenged the eligibility of certain players used by DR Congo during their African playoff encounter last year, but FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee ruled that the case did not warrant disqualification.

Despite the setback, the NFF is not backing down. General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi confirmed that the federation has already initiated an appeal against the decision.

“We have received the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on our petition, but we are not satisfied with the decision, which rejected our petition. I want to assure Nigerians that the NFF has immediately commenced the process of appealing the decision,” NFF general secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, said.