Protests by South Africa and Benin dismissed by FIFA

ZURICH (AP) — FIFA has dismissed protests by South Africa and Benin regarding incidents during last month’s World Cup qualifying games. The disciplinary rulings confirm that Ghana and Congo have advanced to the playoff round. FIFA says both protests were ”declared inadmissible” by its disciplinary committee. South Africa and Benin both lost decisive matches in the final round of group games last month. South Africa protested about the referee in its 1-0 loss to Ghana. Benin lost to Congo 2-0 but complained that the team’s opponents made substitutions in four stoppages of play. The limit is three.