Chile has lost its appeal to replace Ecuador at the World Cup in Qatar, but Friday’s verdict by FIFA will likely lead the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
FIFA dismissed Chile’s argument that Ecuador player Byron Castillo was actually Colombian and ineligible to play in World Cup qualifying games. Castillo played in eight of them for Ecuador.
FIFA said its appeal judges “deemed that on the basis of the documents presented, the player was to be considered as holding permanent Ecuadorian nationality in accordance” with soccer’s legal statutes.
