ZURICH: FIFA has confirmed the punishment of Equatorial Guinea for fielding an ineligible player – Mallorca striker Emilio Nsue López – in the World Cup qualifiers.

Hence they have been judged 3-0 losers of their game against Cape Verde on June 8 and fined 30,000 Swiss francs for contravening both the FIFA disciplinary code and the World Cup regulations.

FIFA also rejected an appeal lodged by FEGUIFUT against the decision taken by the disciplinary committee on May 7 to sanction the association for fielding the same ineligible player during an earlier qualifying match against Cape Verde on March 24.

The punishment in that case was another 3-0 forfeit defeat plus a 12,000 Swiss francs fine.

Equatorial Guinea thus dropped to the bottom of Group C of the African qualifying round with Cape Verde moving second, two points behind Tunisia.