Bafana Bafana Points Deduction: Meet the South African Official Who Slept on the Job

South African are currently feeling the pain after seeing their World Cup qualification hopes suffer a major dent after a three-point deduction imposed on them for fielding an ineligible player.

Bafana Bafana felt the full force from FIFA when the punishment was delivered on Monday, seeing South Africa tumble from top spot in their qualification group with 17 points to second place, level on 14 points with Benin, but with an inferior goal difference.

It leaves South Africa, who would have perhaps needed just one win from their remaining two matches to qualify for the World, now in a position where they have to win both games and hope that Benin drop points or at least outscore them if they end up level on points.

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What led to the points deduction was the fielding of Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Teboho Mokoena in their match against Lesotho on March 21 when he was suspended, having accumulated two yellow cards in previous qualifiers.

The fact that no one realised this anomaly and allowed Bafana Bafana to be embarrassed has left South Africans furious and demanding heads to roll.

Tracking player suspensions lies with the federation’s technical and administrative departments and it appears like the suspension notice was either missed or not properly communicated to the coaching staff, pointing to a lack of due diligence within the South African Football Association (SAFA).

For South Africa, team manager Vincent Tseka, is the man who slept on the job in this instance as his role includes overseeing logistics, player eligibility and matchday operations.

This is not the only mistake Tseka made ahead of the Lesotho match as he also failed to book a training facility for the team, forcing Bafana Bafana into last-minute arrangements that disrupted coach Hugo Broos’ preparations.

So far, SAFA has not indicated whether there will be consequences for the highly damaging oversight but pressure has been mounting from South Africans.