TheCable

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has been sanctioned by FIFA for fielding an “ineligible” Shehu Abdullahi in the match against Algeria on November 10, 2017.

This sanction is a result of Abdullahi’s failure to serve the automatic one-match ban imposed on him.

Abdullahi had received two yellow cards during the World Cup qualification.

FIFA fined the NFF the sum of CHF 6,000 (N2,162, 923), declaring the match forfeited and awarded it 3-0 in favour of Algeria.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the world football governing body accused Nigeria of violating Art. 8 of the regulations of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

“This sanction bears no impact on the final result of the preliminary competition for the FIFA World Cup since Nigeria had already qualified (and Algeria eliminated) before the match took place,” FIFA said.