How old were they back then? I think the new rule only removed the age limit. So they could have switched if they were under 21 years old.
http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/federation/releases/newsid=90417.html The part in bold includes friendly matches. Previous rules (before 2009): "Under the terms of this new provision, up to his 21st birthday, a player who has represented an Association team in one or more matches of an official competition may henceforth request to change the Association for which he is eligible, provided that he fulfils the following criteria: - he has not played at “A” international level for the Association for which he is eligible at the time he submitted the request;- he had dual nationality (or more than two nationalities), at the time of his first appearance in an international match in an official competition of any category. Therefore, this provision does not apply to any players who have been naturalised after having already represented one Association. Consequently, FIFA has rejected the request submitted by Murat Mogomedov, a Russian player but now a naturalised Israeli, as he has already played for Russia."
Regarding age, I am not sure, but she played as far back as 2002 in friendly tournaments for her team, Princesses of Burkina Faso.
I'm also trying to get the lineups for Côte d'Ivoire's matches against Gabon in March - the South Africans said that Salimata Simporé was their number 11 player in one of those matches.... If she's played for 3 nations, surely something has to be done.
A photo of the number 11 for Côte d'Ivoire against Gabon in March (left) and Salimata Simporé playing today against South Africa.
I'd say this year's CAF championship & CONMEBOL championship proves that the 2015 WWC increase to 24 teams is a good idea. I would like to see both confederations get 3.5 qualifying slots. UEFA: 8 AFC: 4.5 CAF: 3.5 CONMEBOL: 3.5 CONCACAF: 3.5 OFC: 1
I really like your investigations, but could you please provide some links? Some official documents that Salimata Simporé really played for Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso?
I would already be happy, when he would give me the link where he found that Salimata Simpore played during the "Tournoi de 5 nations" for Burkina Faso.
The Simporé's were playing in le Tournoi cher à Madame KARAMA (which also goes by 'Tournoi des 5 nations') in 2005: http://www.zedcom.bf/actualite/op413/sport.htm http://www.lefaso.net/spip.php?article9516&rubrique5 But it was for a domestic club. Kind of a bizarre place: "President Obiang overthrew previous dictator Francisco Macías Nguema. On Christmas 1975, Macías had 150 alleged coup plotters executed to the sound of a band playing Mary Hopkin's tune Those Were the Days in a national stadium." Equatorial Guinea appear to be somewhere between cavalierly pushing the edge and toying with FIFA. CAF has been accommodating so far but let them draw Germany in group and things will accelerate pretty quickly. I'm reminded of the tabloid footy journalists who setup the Sven-Goran Ericsson sting in a hotel.
Gladly: If you can read French (if not Google translate works well). http://www.casafree.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=10225
They played for Princesses FC of Burkina Faso. They were playing as far back as 2002 in this annual tournament. The 2007 edition was the only edition when it was not for club teams, but for national teams. Togo were expelled from the tournament after playing a match because they sent a club team instead of the national team.
Yes - but French isn't the most widely spoken language in Burkina Faso (despite being official), and most people who speak French do so as a second language. Likewise, you will often see spelling mistakes or odd use of English in African countries whose official language is supposed to be English.
http://www.fifa.com/tournaments/arc...dition=247808/matches/match=55512/report.html So, surely this is not allowed: Salimata Simporé (or Simporé Salimata depending on which way round her names go) played in 2006 for Equatorial Guinea, 2007 for Burkina Faso, and then 2008 again for Equatorial Guinea... FIFA must act. Players CANNOT change nationality and then change back and play for another team. Not now, not ever.
And... Even more evidence - she played in February and March 2007 in Olympic Qualifiers for Equatorial Guinea against South Africa (where she was again accused of gender cheating along with her sister Bilguissa). So - she turned out for 2 national teams only 6 months apart. It could be that Bilguissa has also done the same, but I am not sure if she turned out for Burkina Faso... Salimata's appearances in FIFA A matches: October 2006 - Equatorial Guinea March 2007 - Equatorial Guinea September 2007 - Burkina Faso October 2008 - Equatorial Guinea
I've written an article about Salimata Simporé on my blog: http://roonba.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/salimata-simpore-courts-controversy-again/
So if FIFA organizes an investigation, and discovers nationality and/or gender rule violations, does that mean Equitorial Guinea's World Cup spot will be given to South Africa, or will only those players in question be disqualified from the team? This whole story is crazy. Thanks, mcruic, for posting such a thorough history of events.
Nigeria officially demand gender test of Equatorial Guinea Players. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have formally demanded a gender test be conducted on Equatorial Guinea star striker Salimata Simpore ahead of Sunday’s African Women’s Championship final in Johannesburg, South Africa. “We have officially complained to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) about Salimata, the Equatorial Guinea no.8. We are challenging the gender of the player and want CAF to do a full test on the player to establish her gender,” said top NFF official, Mohammed Sanusi. Both Ghana and Cameroon have also complained about the gender of the manly-looking Salimata. The gender of several players of defending champions Equatorial Guinea including skipper Genoveva Ayonmang, who was top scorer at the 2008 AWC, has continued to be a big talking point since the last tournament hosted and won by the oil-rich islanders. http://www.ghanadiscuss.com/showthr...p.Nigeria-Is-Champion-AGAIN-!?p=5299#post5299