FIFA might have to punish South Africa not just for fielding an ineligible player against Lesotho, but also for the state of the pitch on which they hosted Nigeria. Knowing fully well that most, if not all, of our players are based in Europe where there are better pitches, they deliberately took us to one of the worst grounds. I understand the concept of "home advantage," but isn’t this the same FIFA that prevented Lesotho and Zimbabwe from hosting matches in their countries because they lacked FIFA-accredited pitches?
So, the question is: who approved the pitch South Africa used to host us? Isn’t this the same country that offered Zimbabwe and Lesotho better pitches simply because they considered them easy opponents, but then made us play on a “potato field”? Funny enough, they weren’t even afraid to take us there. Probably, they think they have immunity simply because one of their own is in charge.
It is also absurd that the NFF did not protest against playing on that pitch. I won’t even talk about the fact that the qualifiers’ schedule left us jet-lagged. Now, one of our players, Ola Aina, is in danger of missing AFCON simply because of CAF’s incompetence. Aina had to be substituted in the 10th minute of the game after sustaining a hamstring injury aggravated by the poor pitch. Ndidi also had to be stretchered off due to a muscle injury. Aina is set to be out for about three months and might potentially miss the AFCON in December.
Honestly, gone are the days when the NFF had any real influence in CAF, because back then South Africa would never have dared to make us play football on such a terrible pitch. Now, I’m not asking FIFA to deduct points from South Africa. After all, if the Super Eagles somehow qualify after playing like trash, they won’t make it past the group stage in the World Cup anyway. However, South Africa’s unfair treatment should not be allowed to stand.