Nigeria have taken their World Cup qualification battle off the pitch and into the legal arena after formally submitting a complaint to FIFA alleging that the Democratic Republic of Congo fielded ineligible players in last month’s decisive African play-off final, Soccernet.ng reports.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) claims the Congolese Football Federation (Fecofa) committed ‘fraud’ by selecting players who had recently switched international allegiance, despite what it argues are clear restrictions under Congolese nationality law.
DR Congo beat the Super Eagles on penalties in Morocco to secure a place in March’s intercontinental play-off, which will determine the final two qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
At the centre of Nigeria’s petition are players including Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Axel Tuanzebe, both of whom featured in the match after receiving clearance to represent DR Congo.
The NFF insists that while FIFA approved the nationality switches, the process itself was flawed because Congolese law does not permit dual citizenship.
“Our contention is that Fifa was deceived into clearing them,” NFF general secretary Mohammed Sanusi said.
“The Congolese rule says you cannot have dual nationality, but some of their players hold European passports. There is what we consider to be a breach of Fifa regulations. We are saying it was fraudulent.”
Nigeria says it has submitted documentary evidence and legal arguments to world football’s governing body, challenging the validity of the clearances granted.
Fecofa, however, has strongly rejected the accusation, describing Nigeria’s petition as an attempt to overturn the result ‘via the back door’.
“The World Cup must be played with dignity and confidence. Not with lawyers’ tricks,” read a statement on the Leopards’ official social media accounts, which also labelled Nigeria ‘bad losers’.
Nigeria: What FIFA rules say and the most likely outcome
Under FIFA statutes, a player is permitted to change national association once, provided they submit a formal, substantiated request that is approved by FIFA’s Players Status Committee.
Crucially, FIFA requires the player to hold a valid passport of the country they wish to represent but it does not prohibit holding another passport at the same time.
That distinction is central to the case.
A source from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) told FilGoal.com that FIFA’s position is likely to favour administrative penalties rather than sporting sanctions.
As long as the players obtained Congolese passports, there is no problem under Fifa rules, the source said.
“Nigeria has filed an official complaint against Congo because of the presence of players like Wan-Bissaka and Tuanzebe who obtained Congolese nationality, even though Congolese law prohibits combining its nationality with a European nationality at the same time,” the source noted.
“FIFA requires that a passport be issued for the nationality in order to change nationality, so as long as the players have obtained passports, there is no problem.”
He added, “If violations are proven, they will not affect the results of the World Cup qualifiers. The case of Equatorial Guinea after the violation of Emilio Nsue was proven was different, and 6 points were deducted because the violation was before the start of the qualifiers, but the situation is different now, and deducting points from Alongo means that we need to restart the qualifiers, and this is not on the table. The most likely outcome is a fine or a future warning.”
Historically, FIFA has imposed sporting sanctions only where there is clear falsification or deliberate misrepresentation, such as Equatorial Guinea’s points deduction in 2026 qualifying or South Africa’s forfeiture for fielding a suspended player.
As the legal process unfolds, Nigeria have shifted their immediate focus back to the pitch.
The Super Eagles have departed Cairo for Fez, Morocco, where they will base themselves for this month’s Africa Cup of Nations group matches.
Nigeria open their campaign against Tanzania on Tuesday, December 23, before facing Tunisia and Uganda, while their World Cup fate now rests with Fifa’s legal committees.
