(Reuters) – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will hear the Chilean football federation’s appeal on Nov. 4 and 5 against the decision by FIFA to allow Ecuador to play at the World Cup, a source close to the case told Reuters on Thursday.
World governing body FIFA earlier this month dismissed an appeal in the case of Ecuadorean player Byron Castillo, who Chile had alleged was ineligible to play in qualifying since he was born in Colombia.
Castillo played in eight of Ecuador’s qualifying games – including twice against Chile – for the Qatar World Cup as they took fourth place, while Chile finished seventh. Ecuador have denied that the player was ineligible.
The source added that Castillo has been asked to appear at the hearing, which will include arguments by the Peruvian football federation, who also lodged an appeal following FIFA’s decision.
Peru finished fifth in South American qualifying, missing out on the last automatic spot for Qatar.
Reuters has reached out to CAS for comment. FIFA declined to comment.
A decision is expected by Nov. 10, days before the World Cup kicks off on Nov. 20 with Ecuador scheduled to take on hosts Qatar.
(Reporting by Dhruv Munjal in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
