U17 World Cup Controversy Nears Resolution: Senegal drops charges against France in Yanis Issoufou Case
The Yanis Issoufou case appears to be coming to a close as Senegal has decided to withdraw its charges against the French team, according to a report by Sport News Africa on Friday. Following Senegal’s elimination in the U17 World Cup round of 16 in Indonesia, the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) had requested FIFA to disqualify France, claiming that French striker Yanis Issoufou was not authorized to play due to his previous participation in qualifying matches for Niger.
After the elimination of Senegal in a penalty shootout against the French team, the FSF had asserted his «ineligibility» and demanded FIFA’s exclusion of Jean-Luc Vannuchi’s players from the tournament.
In a letter from FSF’s secretary-general, Victor Seh Cissé, it was mentioned that they received a response from the international body, confirming the withdrawal of their appeal while expressing continued disagreement.
The letter stated that Article 9.3 of the competition Regulations is irrelevant, questioning how a team can file a complaint five days before a competition about fraud they were unaware of until the player actually participated in a match.
The letter emphasized that removing the player for subsequent matches does not change the fact that the violation has already occurred.
The French team is set to face Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning (9:30 AM), and uncertainty remains regarding Yanis Issoufou’s.
Source: Seneweb
