Reports: FIFA knew before World Cup that Congo goalie was ineligible in key qualifying games

GENEVA (AP) — FIFA knew before the World Cup that Congo’s goalkeeper was ineligible when he played in multiple qualifying games and let him continue at the tournament, according to media reports on Tuesday.

The New York Times and French daily Le Monde cited internal FIFA documents about the case of Lionel Mpasi that increased scrutiny on the soccer body’s disciplinary processes under President Gianni Infantino after the World Cup furor around United States forward Folarin Balogun.

The 32-year-old Mpasi was a France Under-17 international and never completed the FIFA process of switching his national eligibility to Congo where he has family ties, the reports claimed.

Mpasi played in all four of Congo’s games at the World Cup including the 1-1 draw against Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal, and a standout display in a 2-1 loss to England in the round of 32.

An Associated Press report in Atlanta about Mpasi facing England noted he “will have to console himself with one of the great defensive performances in a tournament filled with stellar play from the keepers.”

Yet Mpasi never was eligible to play in five games that took Congo to the World Cup and could have been forfeited under FIFA rules, the reports alleged Tuesday.

He played in five qualifiers in the past year including an African playoff win over Nigeria last November, and an intercontinental playoffs win over Jamaica in March that sent Congo to its first World Cup for 52 years.

The Nigerian soccer federation formally complained to FIFA about possible rule-breaking by Congo giving passports to players to make them eligible to represent the country.

The New York Times and Le Monde cited internal documents from the investigation that FIFA disciplinary lawyers noted Mpasi did not have formal approval from the governing body when he came onto Congo's radar in 2021.

The FIFA disciplinary officials drafted options including letting Nigeria replace Congo to play Jamaica or dismissing the Nigerian complaint on the technicality of a late filing. In a FIFA ruling from qualifying games for the 2018 World Cup, Bolivia defaulted two games for fielding an ineligible player.

The section of FIFA’s disciplinary code relating to fielding ineligible players states the body “may act ex officio,” meaning it has powers to take on a case outside of a complaint.

FIFA said in a statement to the New York Times its disciplinary bodies were independent and “decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them.”

FIFA was approached for comment Tuesday.

The FIFA documents also noted, Le Monde reported, that defaulting Congo’s results in qualifying games that Mpasi played would have sent Burkina Faso instead into the African playoffs.

The reports on Tuesday were published one day before officials from Congo, Nigeria and Burkina Faso were set to attend a three-day summit of the 54-member Confederation of African Football (CAF) in Cape Verde. Infantino is expected to attend.

The president of Congo’s soccer federation is a close friend of Infantino, Véron Mosengo-Omba, who was elected unopposed in May after being CAF general secretary for several years. Infantino and Mosengo-Omba studied together at university in Switzerland and later were colleagues at UEFA and FIFA.

The African soccer summit comes as Infantino is relying on the continent’s support in the FIFA presidential election scheduled in March.

See AP’s full soccer coverage here