Exclusive: “It’s embarrassing” – Former Brentford defender slams Nigerian reaction to Bafana Bafana’s point deduction

Super Eagles of Nigeria are now three points behind Bafana Bafana of South Africa, who have recently had their 17 points reduced to 14 points…

Former Nigeria international Samuel Sodje has criticised the reaction of Nigerian football fans to South Africa’s recent three-point deduction by FIFA, Soccernet.ng exclusively reports.

FIFA has recently sanctioned the Bafana Bafana of South Africa following the fielding of an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, during their clash against Lesotho.

After several weeks of investigation, the World football body deducted three points from South Africa's 17 points and overturned their +2 goals to -3 goals.

FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee has confirmed the deduction of three points from South Africa in the ongoing qualifiers and fined them CHF 10,000.#2026WCQ #BafanaBafana #TebohoMokoena #Lesotho pic.twitter.com/WZP7Dku5XB

— Soccernet.ng (@soccernet_ng) September 29, 2025

This has thrown a section of the Nigerian football community into jubilation as they hope for a World Cup qualifying turnaround for the Super Eagles, who sit third in the group with 11 points, now 3 points behind South Africa.

Sam Sodje on Bafana Bafana's Point Deduction

The former Brentford defender, speaking to Soccernet.ng, has described this as “embarrassing” for the Super Eagles.

“It’s nice to see FIFA doing what they have to do. For South Africa, they did break the rules, and they’ve taken three points off them. I think that’s normal. What’s surprising now is Nigerians [are] seeing this as big news. I think it’s embarrassing.” he told Soccernet.ng.

Sodje argued that relying on administrative sanctions to boost World Cup qualification chances reflects poorly on Nigerian football.

He added: “I think we’ve put ourselves in a situation where we had to depend on taken-off South Africa to qualify. If we think we have a chance—I don’t think we do—if we have any slim chance… hopefully we can earn it on the pitch. With the squad we have, with the kind of players we have in Nigeria, a big country like Nigeria, footballing nation [like Nigeria] shouldn’t be going into the discussion about celebrating three points being taken off South Africa.”

Sodje concluded with a cautionary note for the Super Eagles:

“So yeah, to answer your question, it’s embarrassing. Hopefully we can learn from this and going forward to get things right and not put ourselves in a situation where we have to depend on people losing points.”

Is Group C Still Competitive for Super Eagles?

Despite South Africa being docked three points by FIFA for fielding an ineligible player, Group C remains highly competitive. Nigeria, South Africa, Benin, Rwanda, and Lesotho are all still in contention, with only two matches left to play.

 

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While the Super Eagles can benefit from South Africa’s sanction, qualification will ultimately depend on results on the pitch, and Eric Chelle's men have to make every remaining game count.