How Nigeria’s 2026 World Cup hopes were ended by DR Congo on penalties

At the end of his press conference, Chelle asked reporters why they had not brought up the incident.

Chelle, speaking French, then presented his version of events: “DR Congo guys were doing maraboutage” (technically a Muslim holy man, marabout has connotations of a north African witch doctor).

Chelle, 48, later doubled down on his claims then went to the mix-zone where he repeated the claim in English: “During all of the penalties, the players of Congo were doing some voodoo.”

A representative of DR Congo denied Chelle’s claims when asked by The Athletic.