[b]Nigeria has been punished by Fifa for fielding an ineligible player in their final World Cup qualifier group game against the ‘Desert Foxes’ of Algeria in November.

The sanction however does not jeopardize Nigeria’s World Cup qualification as they had already secured a place in Russia prior to the tie against Algeria.
The game which was played in Constantine ended in a 1-1 draw but the world governing body has now overturned that and Algeria has been awarded a 3-0 win.

Nigeria’s Shehu Abdullahi featured in the match against the ‘Desert Foxes’ and played the entire 90 minutes of the encounter even though he should have been suspended for picking up two yellow cards in two previous qualifying games.

The defender was cautioned in their match against Zambia in which they won 1-0 in October. That victory against the Zambians confirmed Nigeria’s spot in Russia, but prior to that game, Abdullahi was booked in a match against Swaziland in November 2015.

So to that effect, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has been fined 60 US dollars for the oversight, but despite the deductions Nigeria still finish top of Group B with 13 points as against 14 points initially amassed while Algeria still sit bottom of the group, but with 4 points rather than 2 points previously had.
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Source:www.dabbsports.com.