Editing 1966 FIFA World Cup (section)

====African boycott====
All fifteen entered African nations boycotted the tournament to protest against a 1964 FIFA ruling that required the three second-round winners from the African zone to enter a play-off round against the winners of the Asian zone in order to qualify for the World Cup: they felt winning their zone was enough in itself to merit qualification.

The [[Confederation of African Football]] (CAF) felt that the lack of direct representation of African nations in the World Cup was unfair, and demanded that FIFA guarantee at least one African nation a spot in the finals of the following tournament. They also protested against the readmission of [[South Africa national football team|South Africa]] to FIFA in 1963, despite their expulsion from CAF due to the country's [[apartheid]] regime in 1958.<ref name=BBCBoycott/><ref name="pund_This">{{Cite web |title=This Time for Africa: The 1966 World Cup Boycott |work=Pundit Arena |date=10 June 2014 |access-date=25 September 2019 |url=https://punditarena.com/uncategorized/thepateam/time-africa-1966-world-cup-boycott/ }}</ref>

As a result of this boycott, FIFA fined CAF 5,000 Swiss francs. Yidnekatchew Tessema, then president of the CAF, responded to this punishment by saying, "FIFA has adopted a relentless attitude against the African Associations and its decisions resemble methods of intimidation and repression designed to discourage any further impulses of a similar nature. In our opinion, the African National Associations&nbsp;... really deserved a gesture of respect rather than a fine."<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Chapter Four: Nationhood, Pan-Africanism, and Football after Independence; African Football Arrives on the World Stage |title=African Soccerscapes: How a Continent Changed the World's Game |first=Peter |last=Alegi |publisher=Ohio University Press |year=2010 |page=75 }}</ref>

South Africa was subsequently assigned to the Asia and Oceania qualifying group, before being disqualified after being suspended again due to pressure from other African nations in October 1964.<ref name="twoh_Worl"/> Despite this, FIFA refused to change the qualifying format, citing competitive and logistical issues, and the African teams withdrew in protest.

CAF subsequently informed FIFA that they would refuse to participate in World Cup qualifying for [[1970 FIFA World Cup|1970]] unless at least one African team had an automatic place assured in the World Cup: this was put in place for the 1970 FIFA World Cup, and all subsequent World Cup finals.<ref name=BBCBoycott>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36763036 |title=Why Africa boycotted the 1966 World Cup |website=BBC News |date=12 July 2016 }}</ref> Players from the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese African]] colonies of [[Portuguese Angola|Angola]] and [[Portuguese Mozambique|Mozambique]] participated for Portugal.<ref name=BBCBoycott/><ref name="twoh_Worl">{{Cite web |title=World Cup Tales: Boycott! When Africa & Asia Said 'Enough', 1966 |work=twohundredpercent.net |access-date=25 September 2019 |url=http://twohundredpercent.net/world-cup-tales-boycott-when-africa-asia-said-enough-1966/ |archive-date=25 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725010619/https://twohundredpercent.net/world-cup-tales-boycott-when-africa-asia-said-enough-1966/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=July 2024}}