Nigeria have put the World Cup behind them despite submitting a petition to FIFA over DR Congo’s player eligibility, according to National Sports Commission chairman Mallam Shehu Dikko.
The Super Eagles were beaten on penalties by DR Congo in their November 2025 play-off, missing out on a place at the 2026 tournament.
Nigeria’s Football Federation (NFF), alongside the Sports Commission, has since lodged a formal complaint to FIFA alleging that some Congolese players were in breach of eligibility rules, claiming they held passports of their countries of birth despite switching allegiance.
Dikko while speaking with journalists in Abuja, defended both the petition and his administration’s role during the qualifying campaign:
“Before we came in as Sports Commission the World Cup ticket was almost lost. We were three points behind and we pushed along with the Nigeria Football Federation and we almost made it. We had a misfortune of penalty against Congo and we lost it.”
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“However we found out there are some breaches even before the game and we have filed and submitted our petitions to FIFA in what we feel are the breaching against the rule and regulations which is also part of sport, and not like we are being sour losers. The relevant bodies of FIFA are looking at it and very soon we will hear from them and we are confident that we have a strong case.”
He added that the matter would be examined by independent bodies rather than FIFA directly:
“The issue will not be decided by FIFA. There are independent bodies who are independent from FIFA and they are the ones that will look it. The ethics committee and others will look at it and they won’t tell when the verdict will be out, but we’ll wait.”
Despite the ongoing legal process, Dikko said Nigeria’s focus has already shifted to upcoming tournaments, including the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON):
“I keep saying we have put the World Cup behind us and whatever happens with FIFA it is what it is. We are already building for the next competitions, AFCON and WAFCON which is next month. You can see how we pushed in the last AFCON and everyone was happy. So World Cup is over but we have a pending legal issue.”
