• Safa admitted an "administrative oversight" after playing suspended midfielder Teboho Mokoena against Lesotho in March.

• The association has 10 days to appeal Fifa's ruling, which it called "deeply disappointing" and unfair.

The South African Football Association (Safa) has said sorry to South Africans after Bafana Bafana's hard-fought win against Lesotho was overturned by Fifa.

The apology came after Fifa awarded Lesotho a 3-0 victory because Bafana fielded Teboho Mokoena, who should have been suspended.

The association admitted it was an "administrative oversight" and promised to fix its processes once the qualifiers are over.

At the same time, Safa says it will appeal the ruling. Officials are angry that a single-member panel made the decision without giving them a hearing.

"The ruling is deeply disappointing," the association said.

But history is against them. In 2017, Nigeria tried to appeal on similar grounds and failed, with Algeria still awarded the win.

Bafana remain tied with Benin at the top of Group C. To keep their World Cup hopes alive, they must beat Zimbabwe in Durban on 10 October and Rwanda in Mbombela four days later.