Fifa, as expected, awarded Botswana a 3-0 win from a game they had originally lost to Ethiopia 2-1, and fined the Ethiopian Football Federation 6000 Swiss Francs.
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No mention was made by Fifa of the South African Football Association’s claims that they might also have the result of their game against Ethiopia, a 2-1 defeat in Addis Ababa on June 16, reversed.
And Safa accepted Fifa’s decision, backtracking on any claims that Ethiopia might have had another three points overturned.
“We accept and welcome the announcement by Fifa,” said Safa CEO Dennis Mumble in a statement.
“Regarding our issue where we also wrote to them (Fifa) about the same player featuring in our match having not served his suspension, we were not looking for three points but were just inquiring about the status of the player in the qualifiers.”
Ethiopia thought they had qualified for the World Cup 2014 play-offs with that win over Bafana in Addis, but Group A has now been thrown wide open, with South Africa, Ethiopia, and Botswana now all able to qualify.
“We welcome the decision, which I believe was expected. It was never in doubt because rules are rules, so in our view it is a correct decision,” said Bafana coach Gordon Igesund.
“The decision also gives us a second bite on the cherry; we now have to beat Botswana and hope Ethiopia lose or draw against Central African Republic. But I am very pleased with the outcome,” said Igesund.
Only the group winners go through to the play-offs, with Ethiopia now sitting on 10 points, Bafana on eight, and Botswana on seven. Bafana will go through to the play-offs if they beat Botswana at home on the weekend of September 6-8, and Ethiopia fail to win in the CAR.
Even if Ethiopia draw in the CAR, Bafana will go through with a win, as Gordon Igesund’s men would have a superior goal difference to Ethiopia. Botswana, meanwhile, can also make it if they beat Bafana, and Ethiopia lose to the CAR, as they also now have a better goal difference.
The winners of the 10 African World Cup 2014 qualifying groups go into play-offs, with five sides emerging as the continent’s representatives at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Meanwhile, Fifa are also investigating two other African countries – Togo and Equatorial Guinea – for allegedly fielding ineligible players in World Cup qualifying, which could throw two other groups into chaos.
Togo could forfeit their 2-0 win over Cameroon in Group I, which would put Cameroon above Libya and in pole position to take that group’s spot in the play-offs.
Equatorial Guinea could forfeit points to Cape Verde in Group B, meaning Tunisia’s progress to the play-offs is not yet certain. – Additional reporting by Sapa-AP
Source : io.co.za
Tags : ethiopia, fifa, world cup, World Cup 2014 Qualifiers, brazil 2014,
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