Fifa's disciplinary committee have shot themselves in the foot with the cruel decision to deny a replay of the dubious match between Bafana Bafana and Ghana. The decision will encourage more manipulation of the outcomes of games by African football's unscrupulous executives.

The SA Football Association bowed to Fifa's ruling that the 2018 World Cup qualifier match against Senegal be replayed based on a wrong decision made by the match official. However, today they display double standards.

Senegalese referee Maguette N’Diaye and his assistants deliberately influenced the outcome of the World Cup qualifying match in favour of Ghana. The way Ghana's Daniel Amartey violently threw himself to the ground to earn the decisive penalty, one would not be blamed for thinking that he had an agreement with the criminal referee.

Where is “fair play” that Fifa is talking about? Fifa is undermining its own mission statement and the international football governing body's integrity will be dented. The decision is a slap in the face of football: that a team loses the game with a dubious decision and the results are accepted as final.

By letting such unfair decisions go unpunished, Fifa missed the opportunity to rectify these heartless decisions. They were supposed to make an example of this game and show that they are engaging a no-nonsense approach in eradicating poor officiating and the manipulation of match outcomes. The future of football looks bleak indeed on this trajectory.

Kgothatso Mphuthi, email