Cape Verde’s blunder was in fielding the defender Fernando Varela, who should have sat out the match after being sent off in a qualifier in March. They forfeited the match which was awarded 3-0 in favour of Tunisia.
Tunisia thus go on to the final round in which the 10 group winners will be drawn against each other on Monday. The play-off winners all head for next year’s finals in Brazil.
Cape Verde are not alone in displaying, at the least, administrative incompetence. Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Sudan and Togo have all been punished for using ineligible players.
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