Eric Chelle claims DR Congo players performed ritual acts during a decisive penalty shoot-out<\/p>\n
The head coach of the Nigerian national football team has accused the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) of using \u201cvoodoo\u201d during the penalty shoot-out that eliminated his side from World Cup contention.
\nOn Sunday, the DR Congo secured a place in March\u2019s six-team inter-confederation playoffs after beating Nigeria 4-3 on penalties, following a 1-1 draw in the CAF playoff final in Rabat, Morocco.
\nAfter Chancel Mbemba converted the decisive spot-kick, Nigerian head coach Eric Chelle confronted DR Congo coach Sebastien Desabre and members of his staff, prompting a brief altercation on the touchline.
\nSpeaking afterwards, Chelle claimed that Congolese players engaged in ritual activity throughout the shoot-out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udd25 OFF CAMERA DRAMA!! \ud83d\udd25Nigeria\u2019s coach, \u00c9ric S\u00e9kou Chelle, was captured trying to fight just before the last penalty kick of the game! \ud83d\ude33He was reportedly picking up a water bottle, seemingly aiming at a member of the DR Congo technical team.The match commissioner will\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/q4SRKbRa9a\u2014 Micky Jnr (@MickyJnr__) November 16, 2025 <\/p>\n
\u201cDuring all the penalty decisions, the guy from Congo did some voodoo. Every time, every time, every time,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, this is why I was a little nervous after him.\u201d
\nPressed by reporters on what he had witnessed, Chelle mimicked the sprinkling of a liquid and added: \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s water or something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring all the penalties, the guy from DR Congo did some voodoo.\u201dNigeria head coach \u00c9ric Chelle explains why tempers flared between him and the DR Congo staff at the end of the World Cup playoff final. pic.twitter.com\/nMyTIcqlTT\u2014 ESPN Africa (@ESPNAfrica) November 17, 2025 <\/p>\n
The victory gives the DR Congo renewed momentum as they seek a return to the World Cup for the first time since 1974, when they competed under the name Zaire. For Nigeria, the defeat marks a second consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup \u2013 something they have not experienced since 1990.<\/p>\n
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The defeat prompted a response from Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who urged all football stakeholders to redirect their attention to the upcoming AFCON tournament in Morocco. He noted that this is the moment to \u201cconcentrate fully\u201d on the Cup of Nations, adding that the Super Eagles \u201cmust recover the lost glory.\u201d
\nThese types of allegations are not unprecedented in African football, though none has ever been formally proven.\u00a0
\nIn February, Wilson Arthur, the chairman of the Ghana FA Cup Committee, claimed that the referees were \u201cspiritually targeted\u201d during games. He told local media that \u201creferees are always under a spell,\u201d and recounted an incident in which he was advised to leave his seat because a supposed curse was placed on his team. He added that his side scored immediately after he stepped away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Eric Chelle claims DR Congo players performed ritual acts during a decisive penalty shoot-out The head coach of the Nigerian national football team has accused the Democratic Republic of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22676,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t