Teboho Mokoena will resume duty with Bafana Bafana for the latest round of World Cup qualifiers with his name still of interest.
Mokoena earned his last cap for Bafana in March against Lesotho under a blanket of errors from SAFA having been ineligible to play in that match.
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The Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder was yellow carded at the start of the Group C qualifiers against Benin in November 2023.
Then his second caution was against Zimbabwe seven months later.
According to the competition rules, this then meant he would have to sit out the next qualifier against Lesotho played in March.
Bafana played six AFCON qualifiers (which he was eligible to play) in between Mokoena receiving his second yellow card and the next World Cup qualifier match in which he had to serve suspension.
He was then meant to have been suspended for the match against Lesotho which he played, and Bafana won 2-0.
While Nigeria have driven the outcry over this matter which had no protest lodged by Lesotho within the stipulated time frame, FIFA has not included this case under their latest release of cases under review.
The FIFA disciplinary overview for the FIFA World Cup 26 Qualifiers has no mention of this case.
"The FIFA Judicial Bodies takes decisions based on the specific circumstances of each case.
"Some decisions may be subject to appeal.
"This document is provided as information for media.
"Only the decision as communicated to the concerned parties shall be deemed a valid legal document.
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"Last updated: 26.08.2025," reads the heading of the FIFA document with cases from the last FIFA dates in June.
There was also no mention of Mokoena’s name under the Bafana Bafana versus Lesotho in the previous FIFA document released in May, which was for cases from the March FIFA dates.
FIFA has also already released the arbitration rules for World Cup qualifiers.
Photo: Philip Maeta/Gallo Images
