South Africa’s Football Association (Safa) will hold an emergency committee meeting later today Monday, September 11, “to discuss the way forward” following Fifa’s decision to order a replay of the World Cup qualifier against Senegal because of “match manipulation” by the referee.
[ads1]South Africa beat Senegal 2-1 at home last November but match referee Joseph Lamptey has since been banned for life.
Neither South Africa nor Senegal are accused of any wrongdoing.
In a statement released on Saturday, Safa’s President, Dr Danny Jordaan, described Fifa’s decision to have the match replayed as “devastating” and confirmed Safa has “considered appealing.”
Dr Jordaan also urged South Africans to “preserve the dignity” of Fifa’s General Secretary Fatma Samoura who is from Senegal and stop the criticism of her, saying they hold her “in high regard.”
Meanwhile, the president of the Senegalese Football Federation, Augustin Senghor, described Fifa’s decision to order a replay as “a very good decision for us – but also for the sake of good football, the good spirit of football, and for fair play also.”
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Senghor said Senegal are “ready to play this match” and that Fifa should continue its fight against match-fixing.
“As everyone knows, in November 2016, the referee took a very bad decision during this match, that’s why Senegal lost this match.
“So it is a good decision in the battle against match-fixing, but also it’s a good decision for us because at that time we were victims of an injustice, and I think that Fifa must continue in this way.
“Every time, if you have this kind of situation with match-fixing or bribery, Fifa has to take the decision that can avoid the repetition of this kind of wrong-doing,” Augustin Senghor added.
