FIFA To Sanction South Africa, Says Raymond Hack

Nigerians will soon start celebrating the deduction of three points from South Africa’s current haul in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, if the words of a former member of the global body’s disciplinary council, Raymond Hack are anything to go by.

Sports247 reports that, although Hack runs a law firm in Johannesburg, South Africa, the vastly experienced and elderly attorney is staying objective in his verdict about the episode that involved Bafana Bafana using an inelligible player during their World Cup qualifier against Lesotho.

Hack, who is also a highly respected football arbitrator and solicitor, added that FIFA would normally apply punishments accordingly, even if no team protested against an opponents’ infringement of the rules.

He pointed out, “Even if you don’t lodge your protest, you can’t say two wrongs make a right. If you didn’t protest, (the rules should note that) someone still participated when he wasn’t entitled to do so.

“FIFA can look at that, and they will find a way to say, ‘Yes, Lesotho didn’t protest, but South Africa, you did something wrong, and we will punish you for doing something wrong.’ They should do that.”

Hack then pointed out the dangers that could arise should FIFA not take the normal decision that usually follows the kind of infringement that South Africa committed and warned the global body against setting a bad precedent.

The legal luminary pointed out, “If they do not take away the points, they will open the door for absolute chaos. It would mean that every team in the association can get away with a mistake because the others forgot to protest.”

He concluded with a breakdown of specifics about protests in football matters and why any team that feels aggrieved could be protected by FIFA, even if they fail to take advantage of the regulations, especially regarding careless errors by opponents.

“The room for protest is there, so everybody knows about it. But, the fact is that the people who fielded the player on that day should have known that he was not eligible to play. Whether Lesotho protests or not, that’s a different story,” Hack averred.

His comments come hot on the heel of an emphatic declaration by the secretary-general of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Dr Muhammed Sanusi that the country’s soccer ruling body has officially written to FIFA and they are anxiously awaiting a favourable response in due course.

Sports247.ng