Cape Verde has lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) over the world football governing body, FIFA’s, ruling that ruled them out of the 2014 FIFA World Cup African Zone third round playoffs.
The Lausane-based tribunal said on Tuesday it had registered the protest, although it could not yet give a date for the hearing and decision.
FIFA discovered that the Island nation had featured an ineligible player (Fernando Varela) in their final Group B 2-0 win over Tunisia. They were made to forfeit the victory by FIFA and the match was instead awarded 3-0 to Tunisia, which sent the Northern Africans through to the playoffs as group winners.
The Tunisians have already played the first leg of the playoff round, drawing goalless at home to Cameroon last Month.
CAS says the appeal requests FIFA to nullify the first-leg result, cancel the second-leg on November 17 and reinstate Cape Verde to play Cameroon.
Varela was banned for four matches after being sent off in an earlier Group B match against Equatorial Guinea, which Cape Verde lost 4-3.
That result itself was also overturned, and the game awarded to Cape Verde 3-0, after FIFA ruled that Equatorial Guinea’s Emilo Nsue was not eligible.
Cape Verde argued that the red card and subsequent ban should not have counted as the match had been declared invalid.
