Fresh revelations have emerged over the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) failed protest against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), with a report claiming that Nigeria submitted its complaint through the wrong FIFA email channel.
The development has added another twist to the controversy surrounding Nigeria’s unsuccessful attempt to challenge DR Congo’s use of goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi in the decisive 2026 World Cup African play-off.
According to a report by OwnGoalNigeria, citing a highly placed source at the National Sports Commission (NSC), FIFA listed the channel used by the NFF to submit its petition among the technical grounds for dismissing the case.
The report claimed that instead of submitting the protest through FIFA’s designated Legal Portal, the NFF sent it to the office of FIFA’s Secretary General.
The alleged procedural error reportedly contributed to FIFA’s decision to declare Nigeria’s complaint inadmissible.
The controversy centres on Mpasi, who featured for DR Congo against Nigeria despite concerns over whether he had completed the required process to switch his international allegiance from France to DR Congo.
Nigeria lost the November 2025 African play-off final 4-3 on penalties after the encounter ended 1-1 following extra time in Rabat, Morocco, allowing DR Congo to advance to the intercontinental play-off.
Subsequent reports, including findings attributed to documents reviewed by The New York Times, indicated that FIFA officials had concerns about Mpasi’s eligibility and found that the required nationality-switch documentation had not been completed.
Despite the eligibility concerns, FIFA dismissed Nigeria’s protest on procedural grounds.
The latest report now claims that, in addition to the issue of late filing, FIFA cited the NFF’s alleged failure to use the appropriate legal submission channel.
The NSC source, however, reportedly disputed the explanation, arguing that correspondence and petitions are ordinarily routed through the office of the Secretary General before being directed to the appropriate department.
The claim has yet to be independently confirmed in full by FIFA or the NFF. FIFA has maintained that its disciplinary committees are autonomous and that the Nigerian complaint was dismissed in accordance with the applicable regulations and facts before them.
The fresh revelation comes amid mounting scrutiny of FIFA’s handling of the DR Congo case after reports suggested that its officials had identified concerns surrounding Mpasi’s eligibility.
FIFA has defended its decision, while the controversy continues to fuel questions in Nigeria over how the NFF’s protest was prepared, submitted and ultimately handled.
For the Super Eagles, the saga has become a painful postscript to a World Cup qualification campaign that ended with a penalty shootout defeat — and the latest claim about a wrongly submitted email has only deepened the anger surrounding the case.
