November 8, 2022
The brief from today:
Ecuador case finally settled
The legal proceedings between Ecuador, Chile, and Peru have finally been settled after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) gave their ruling today. Chile and Peru have been seeking to get Ecuador disqualified from the World Cup following claims that defender, Byron Castillo, was actually born in Colombia and ineligible to play for Ecuador. Seeing that he was fielded in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers, the Chileans specifically—who finished one place in the rankings behind Ecuador—were hoping to use this allegation as a means to gain access to the World Cup. The case worked its way through the courts following FIFA’s rejection of the appeals in June and September, and eventually reached CAS after Chile and Peru continued appealing against previous decisions hoping for a ruling in their favor. As of today, Ecuador can rest easy knowing they will retain their place as one of the 32 teams in Qatar after CAS ruled that Castillo was eligible to play for them. Ironically, however, while CAS ruled that “no violation of the rules on eligibility has occurred”, they did fine Ecuador $101,605 for using false documents to naturalize Castillo. In addition to the monetary punishment, the South American nation will also be penalized three points once the 2026 World Cup qualifiers commence. As of now, Ecuador are evaluating whether to appeal the sanctions, but considering they play the opening match of the World Cup against Qatar in 12 days, more pressing concerns are taking precedence.
CAS has ruled that Ecuador can retain their place at the 2022 World Cup
CONMEBOL aligns with FIFA
Following FIFA’s letter to all 32 teams participating in the World Cup a few days ago, which told the various nations that they should put aside political matters related to Qatar and focus on football, one of the major continental federations: CONMEBOL has now followed suit. The South American football confederation communicated a message to their member countries today that aligned closely with FIFA’s letter from last week. The statement released by CONMEBOL really pushed the focus on sports over societal issues narrative saying, “As few times in history, human society today needs the powerful message of sport in general and football, the most popular of them, in particular.” They went on to say, “The time has come to leave controversies behind and value and enjoy a true all-embracing party, eagerly awaited by the entire planet.” This position is in direct opposition to the recent one taken by 10 European nations in which they stressed the importance of supporting human rights during the tournament in Qatar. Regardless of the approach taken, whether it’s the FIFA/CONMEBOL option, or that of the European countries, one thing is certain: there is hardly any chance this competition will be devoid of politics.
CONMEBOL releases a statement asking for a focus on football rather than politics in Qatar