The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) was aware that the Democratic Republic of Congo had used an ineligible player but still allowed the country to continue its World Cup qualification campaign, according to an investigation by The New York Times.
The report, published Tuesday, revealed that FIFA’s legal officials had privately concluded that Congo violated player eligibility regulations after goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi failed to complete the required process to change his international allegiance from France, where he had previously represented youth teams.
Despite the finding, FIFA permitted Mpasi to keep playing, and Congo later defeated Jamaica in March to book its first World Cup appearance in 52 years.
The revelation has renewed scrutiny of FIFA’s handling of Nigeria’s complaint against Congo, following the Central African nation’s penalty-shootout victory over the Super Eagles in the African play-off final in November 2025.
The defeat meant Nigeria missed out on a second successive World Cup, having also failed to qualify for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
In December 2025, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) filed a complaint with FIFA, alleging that Congo had used players who were not properly eligible to represent the country.
The complaint challenged the clearance of several foreign-born players, including Mpasi, and accused the Congolese federation of providing misleading information to FIFA while obtaining their eligibility.
Documents and correspondence examined by The New York Times, as well as information from a senior official involved in the matter, indicated that FIFA officials considered various possible sanctions against Congo. These included awarding the match to Nigeria, issuing fines, replacing Congo with Nigeria in the play-off against Jamaica, or taking no action because Nigeria had submitted its complaint after the deadline.
FIFA regulations state that using an ineligible player can lead to a team forfeiting the match in which the player participated, reflecting the organisation’s stronger action in previous similar cases.
In 2016, FIFA punished Greece after it fielded an ineligible player who had previously represented Australia at youth level, awarding Turkey a 3-0 victory. Two years later, FIFA altered the outcomes of two Bolivia World Cup qualifying matches after finding that Bolivia had used a player who had previously represented Paraguay.
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Former NFF president Ibrahim Musa Gusau said he was informed that Nigeria’s complaint had been dismissed on technical grounds but was not told that FIFA had identified an issue with Mpasi’s eligibility.
“They just kept quiet, and they can’t tell anyone because they know it’s going to be a serious crisis for them,” Gusau told The New York Times, while demanding an investigation.
The Times also reported that it had examined a document consistent with Gusau’s account of FIFA’s response to Nigeria’s complaint.
The development has further intensified attention on FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s relationship with African football officials and the continent’s political significance within FIFA.
While FIFA was examining Congo’s player eligibility case, Véron Mosengo-Omba, an ally of Infantino, was preparing to run for the presidency of the Congolese football federation.
Two months later, after Congo qualified for the World Cup, Mosengo-Omba became the only candidate and was elected president after eight other contenders either withdrew or were disqualified following changes to eligibility requirements.
Cameroonian former FIFA official Prince Zelkifli Rahman Ngoufonja, popularly known as Prince Zul, said the relationship between Infantino and Mosengo-Omba raised concerns about what could have happened if FIFA had removed Congo from the World Cup.
“If FIFA removed Congo from the World Cup,” he said, Infantino’s ally’s prospects “could have been damaged.”
Mosengo-Omba, however, said he was not aware of FIFA’s findings concerning Mpasi’s eligibility.
Jamaica, which lost to Congo in the match that secured the latter’s World Cup qualification, did not respond to a request for comment.
CONCACAF, the governing body for football in North and Central America and the Caribbean, expressed concern about how eligibility complaints were handled.
“Any concerns regarding player eligibility, particularly those that may affect the integrity of a competition or the interests of one of our member associations, need to be thoroughly reviewed and addressed,” it said.
The latest revelations come months after the 2026 World Cup, which also faced questions over FIFA’s handling of disciplinary and political issues.
The tournament was further scrutinised after FIFA lifted the suspension of United States forward Folarin Balogun following a reported phone conversation between Infantino and United States President Donald Trump.
