Friday, 22nd November, 2013
South African football authorities have denied the country's 1-0 win over Spain could be declared null-and-void over allegations La Roja used an illegal number of substitutes.
FIFA were believed to be considering lowering the grade of Tuesday's friendly fixture – meaning it will not count towards world rankings – after Spain were alleged to have used seven substitutions.
FIFA rules permit only six changes in a Grade A friendly match, and Spain's Pepe Reina became the seventh in Johannesburg when he came on for the injured goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
According to South African outlet Eyewitness News, FIFA had not approved of Spain's move which came despite South Africa coach Gordon Igesund appealing against it at the time.
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In a statement quoted on the BBC, FIFA are "in the process of gathering the official reports of the said game in order to analyse possible next steps."
And South African Football Association (SAFA) president Danny Jordaan has rubbished reports of the potential downgrading, saying: "It has no authority and no substance.
"FIFA hasn’t even received the match report. So there’s no basis for the generation of the [allegations] and if you ask who’s raised this matter, you would find that it’s somebody in the South African media."
South Africa pulled off their win thanks to Bernard Parker's goal at the same stadium where Spain had clinched their World Cup triumph three years ago.
While a negative fallout from 'SubGate' is unlikely to have a major impact on Spain's ranking, South Africa, ranked 61 and tied with two other teams on 540, could stand to lose a substantial points-coup given their opponents' standings.
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