Senegal has opted against pursuing legal action against France for fielding an ineligible player in the 2023 Under-17 World Cup ( U-17 2023 World Cup) in Indonesia, despite initially filing a complaint with FIFA. The initial complaint was dismissed due to a violation of the five-day deadline before the tournament, as outlined in Article 9.3 of the Competition Regulations.
In a response received from the international body, communicated through Secretary-General Victor Seh Cissé, the Senegalese Football Federation formally confirmed the withdrawal of its complaint while maintaining strong disagreement. Senegal emphasized the absurdity of filing a claim before the competition concerning fraud only established after the player in question has effectively participated. In light of this misunderstanding, Senegal withdrew its complaint, allowing France to proceed with the U-17 2023 World Cup participation without hindrance after winning the match against Senegal.
“We stress that Article 9.3 of the Competition Regulations is irrelevant. How can a team file a complaint five days before a competition about fraud it is unaware of, established only when the player has participated in a match in the said competition and not before? Withdrawing the player for subsequent matches after the rule violation does not change the situation because the violation has already occurred. (…) The elements in your email, on the contrary, suggest the meaning of the decision, which is not to impose sanctions. In light of all this, the SFF decides to abandon its submission today and requests FIFA to take note,” reads a correspondence addressed to the Director of the U-17 2023 World Cup.
On Saturday, November 25, 2023, France won Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals (1-0), while Morocco and Mali will compete in the other all-African duel of the day. Argentina and Germany have already secured their spots in the semi-finals, respectively eliminating Brazil (3-0) and Spain (1-0).
