The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has clarified that it is yet to receive any official response from FIFA regarding its petition over the eligibility of some Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) players who featured in the 2026 FIFA World Cup African playoff against the Super Eagles.
The federation stressed that the matter remains under consideration, contrary to media reports claiming that FIFA had dismissed Nigeria’s appeal following the Super Eagles’ defeat to DR Congo in the playoff final.
Reacting to the reports, NFF Secretary General, Mohammed Sanusi, dismissed the claims as unfounded, stating that no communication has been received from FIFA on the issue.
According to him, the NFF duly submitted a petition to FIFA concerning the eligibility of certain DR Congo players and is awaiting an official response.
“The Nigeria Football Federation wrote a petition to FIFA on the eligibility of some of the players of DR Congo, and if there is anything, FIFA will reply to the NFF,” Sanusi said in an interview on African Independent Television (AIT).
He added that checks conducted by the federation showed no correspondence from FIFA indicating that the petition had been rejected.
“The NFF has not received any letter from FIFA saying they have thrown away our petition. We have checked our emails, and there was no letter from FIFA.
“I don’t know where they got their information from. If there is any such letter, let them show it, unless they have someone in FIFA giving them information ahead of official communication.”
The NFF maintained that it would only react officially once FIFA communicates its decision on the petition.