This is the sort of eligibility mess that should never be allowed to drift this far. Yet here we are: Fifa has allowed the Democratic Republic of the Congo to compete at this summer’s World Cup even after reports of an internal investigation into whether an ineligible player was used in qualifying. That is not a footnote. That is a legitimacy problem.
The player at the centre of the row is goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi, who played for France at youth level, and the complaint trail has only made the situation look messier. In November, the Nigeria Football Federation filed a complaint after the Democratic Republic of the Congo won a World Cup playoff tie on penalties. Then, in March, DR Congo defeated Jamaica in a final intercontinental playoff round and kept moving forward. At some point, the football has been overshadowed by the paperwork, and that is a bad look for everyone involved.
A complaint, a rejected challenge and a bigger question
On Tuesday, the Norwegian football federation submitted a three-pronged complaint to Fifa, which tells you the issue is not fading away quietly. And why would it? Concacaf has already said it takes player eligibility matters very seriously and expects the applicable regulations and procedures to be applied consistently and fairly in all competitions. It also said concerns regarding player eligibility should be thoroughly reviewed and addressed through Fifa’s appropriate governance and disciplinary bodies. Quite right. This is not the kind of subject where vague assurances should be enough.
The governing-body angle only gets sharper when you add the context around Gianni Infantino and Véron Mosengo-Omba becoming president of Fecofa in May. That does not prove anything on its own, but it does underline how politically exposed these issues can become when they are allowed to linger. Once a qualification pathway starts to look vulnerable, every decision after that becomes harder to defend.
There is also the awkward reality that a rejected complaint has not stopped talk of consequences. reported that nothing has been decided yet, but Nigeria will seriously consider seeking compensation from Fifa for the economic losses this has cost Nigeria. That is a remarkable line to have in circulation before a World Cup has even begun. It shows how quickly an eligibility dispute can move from technical matter to financial grievance.
Lise Klaveness probably put it best when she said each of these cases must be assessed based on the facts of each individual case. That is the only sensible approach. But Fifa now has to prove it actually means what it says. If a player’s eligibility is in doubt, and if an internal investigation really found problems, then simply waving a team through to the World Cup is a very poor way to restore trust.
For DR Congo, the immediate damage may be limited to noise and suspicion. For the tournament itself, the damage is broader. The last 32 should be about football, not about whether the route into the competition has been properly checked. Right now, that distinction feels dangerously blurred.
