Cape Verde is a miniscule collection of islands off the coast of West Africa, and if they had qualified, they would have been the smallest nation in the World Cup playoffs. However, they were banned from the competition on Thursday because they had fielded an unqualified player in last Saturday’s match.
FIFA investigated the situation and determined that defender Fernando Valera had not fulfilled his suspension when he played in the match. African teams have had a string of bad errors over the course of this season, and Cape Verde’s team, the Blue Sharks, were hoping just to make it to the playoffs.
Valera had been suspended in March, but there was much confusion over the validity of that decision, and Cape Verde had thought Valera’s suspension was lifted. Deputy president of Cape Verde’s federation, Lena Vasconcelos, said: “It is a nightmare,” but added that many believe the disqualification will be revoked. “Lots of people have phoned up to tell us we are right, that when a match is forfeited all the red and yellow cards are taken away.”
