Chile’s appeal hearing of Ecuador’s position at this year’s World Cup due to a player being deemed ineligible was set for Sept. 15.
FIFA announced Thursday that its appeals committee had invited Byron Castillo, the Ecuadorian player at the center of the dispute, as a witness.
No target was given for a verdict just two months before Ecuador opened the World Cup against its host, Qatar, on Nov. 20 in Doha.
Although FIFA’s appeal judges rarely overturn a decision by the soccer body’s disciplinary committee, the Chilean soccer federation will have to go through the courtroom before filing an upcoming appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Chileans have criticized FIFA for the slowness of the procedure since the June 10 disciplinary ruling in favor of Ecuador.
Chile claimed to have documents proving that Castillo is in fact Colombian and not eligible to play for Ecuador. Castillo played 8 World Cup qualifying matches.
Ecuador may be forced to lose all 8 games due to 3-0 defeats and lose fourth place in the South American qualifying group. If the claim is proven, Chile would climb to fourth place in the ranking and claim the automatic classification position.
The World Cup draw was held on April 1 and Ecuador was integrated into an organization with Qatar, the Netherlands and Senegal.
Chilean media reported on Wednesday that one of FIFA’s 3 appellate judges decided on Qatar. The president of the appeals is Neil Eggleston, an American who was a White House lawyer.
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