FIFA, more trouble for Infantino! Congo at the World Cup with an “illegal” goalkeeper

The New York Times reveals that Nigeria’s appeal over Mpasi was ignored. FIFA’s president has defended the Congolese federation’s candidate, who is useful for his re-election at the head of world football’s governing body.

Another unpleasant piece of news weighing on the last World Cup and on FIFA — at least according to The New York Times, which draws attention to another controversial stance by president Gianni Infantino. The newspaper writes that FIFA’s legal representatives followed a confidential path after the Democratic Republic of Congo fielded a player in breach of the regulations.

The news is confirmed by several internal documents and by what a senior official directly involved in the matter has said. He spoke after being guaranteed anonymity. Such a violation normally brings the forfeiture of every match in which the ineligible player was fielded.

Congo needed a final win in the play-off match against Jamaica to qualify for the World Cup for the first time. “FIFA,” The New York Times writes, “quietly allowed the player and Congo’s national team to continue taking part.”

Congo beat Jamaica and secured a place at the 2026 World Cup, where FIFA and Infantino faced strong accusations over fair play and political interference. The most sensational case was the lifting of the ban on the U.S. player Balogun, after an Infantino–Trump phone call. It then emerged that Infantino would sell the World Cup to private interests, specifically to Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. But the project fell through.

FIFA’s review of Congo’s position came after an appeal by Nigeria concerning a player’s ineligibility. Congo had beaten Nigeria before going on to the play-off against Jamaica. During the investigation of that appeal, FIFA discovered that Congo had not completed the documentation needed to allow goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi to switch national teams, having previously played for France’s youth teams.

FIFA has not denied any of The New York Times’ findings, but has only stated that it rejected Nigeria’s appeal on a procedural matter. In an email sent to the newspaper, world football’s governing body writes that its committees are “autonomous and decide on the basis of the regulations and the specific facts, according to their own assessment.”

FIFA also explained that Infantino had no role in such decisions. In Congo’s case, FIFA officials had discussed various options, including awarding the win to Nigeria, imposing a fine, replacing Congo with Nigeria in the play-off against Jamaica, or taking no action at all, claiming that Nigeria had filed its appeal late. All of this, according to the documents.

The correspondence linked to the investigation, also analysed by The New York Times, contained details of the measures FIFA took in similar earlier cases. A FIFA legal official not involved in this matter confirmed the authenticity of the documents held by The New York Times.

In 2016, when Greece fielded an ineligible player who had previously played for Australia’s youth teams, FIFA acted decisively, decreeing a 3-0 forfeit defeat for the Greeks against Turkey. Two years later, FIFA changed the results of two of Bolivia’s matches in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers after establishing that the team had fielded a player who had previously represented Paraguay.

The defeat to Congo had serious consequences for Nigerian football. Part of the federation’s board resigned.

FIFA has 211 member federations and each has one vote, so the African electorate is essential.

While FIFA was examining Congo’s case, Véron Mosengo-Omba, an Infantino ally, was preparing to run for the presidency of the Congolese federation. Two months later, Mosengo-Omba was the sole candidate and was elected president. Eight of his rivals withdrew or were excluded from running.

Prince Zelkifli Rahman Ngoufonja, a former Cameroonian FIFA official known as Prince Zul, said the Infantino–Mosengo-Omba relationship raises questions. “If FIFA were to exclude Congo from the World Cup,” Prince Zul said, “Infantino’s alliance would be damaged.”