Nigeria are not the only nation on the receiving end of FIFA’s hammer, as Group D rivals, Croatia, have also gotten theirs.
The Super Eagles were on Tuesday sanctioned for fielding an ineligible player in the 1-1 draw against Algeria in November.
All three points were handed to the Desert Foxes with an additional fine hitting the country.
Barely 24 hours after, Croatia have been fined by the governing body for inappropriate behaviour of their fans during the World Cup qualifier against Greece in November.
FIFA penalised the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) for violating Articles 58, 65 and 67 of FIFA’s security rules.
Consequently, the HNS were fined 30,000 Swiss francs (approximately N11 million) for the incident that occurred at Stadion Maksimir (Zagreb), but the outcome of the game will remain valid.
Croatia thrashed Greece 4-1 in the first leg of their World Cup playoffs, courtesy of goals from Luka Modrić, Nikola Kalinić, Ivan Perišić and Andrej Kramarić, and qualified for the World Cup three days later in Piraeus after holding their hosts to a goalless draw.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) received a fine of CHF 6,000 and forfeited the match against Algeria for fielding an ineligible Shehu Abdullahi.
Nigeria will face Croatia in their World Cup opener at the Kaliningrad Stadium (Kaliningrad).
