FIFA rejects Chile appeal over Ecuador's 2022 World Cup place

Chile has lost its appeal to FIFA to replace Ecuador at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the world football governing body announced on Friday.

FIFA dismissed Chile's argument that Ecuador player Byron Castillo was actually Colombian and ineligible to play in tournament qualifying, in which Castillo made eight appearances for Ecuador.

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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 football's legal statutes.

The verdict, which upholds a FIFA disciplinary ruling from June and will likely be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), keeps Ecuador on track to play in Qatar — they face the hosts in the opening game of the World Cup in Doha on Nov. 20. The Netherlands and Senegal are also in Group A.

However, Chile's legal challenge can continue.

The Chilean football federation has said it intends to appeal against FIFA's verdict to sport's highest court — CAS in Lausanne, Switzerland — which can organise an urgent hearing and ruling ahead of the World Cup.

«This is a dark day for football and for the credibility of the system,» Jorge Yunge, general secretary of the Chilean Football Federation, said.

«The footballing world heard a player who helped Ecuador qualify for the FIFA World Cup admit he was born in Colombia and that he gained an Ecuadorian passport using false information. No wonder he refused to participate in the FIFA hearing. What does it say about [the] appeal committee that, confronted with all this, still they fail to act?

»Of course, we will refer this to the Court of Arbitration for Sport because the weight of evidence