February 6 – Bolivia’s appeal against being docked points for fielding an ineligible player in two World Cup qualifiers has been rejected by FIFA’s appeals panel.
South America’s regional World Cup qualifying competition took a significant twist in November when Bolivia were ordered to forfeit a 0-0 draw with Chile and 2-0 win over Peru, both amended to 3-0 losses.
FIFA made the ruling after Paraguayan-born Nelson Cabrera’s inclusion in Bolivia’s team “in breach of the rules on eligibility to play for representative teams.” He had previously played for Paraguay’s national team.
Bolivia used 33-year-old Cabrera as a late substitute in both disputed matches but even without the sanctions, they would stand ninth in the 10-team South American qualifying group with only an outside chance of advancing.
Nevertheless the Bolivian federation can still appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In a statement FIFA said: “The FIFA Appeal Committee has decided to reject the appeals lodged by the Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) and to confirm in its entirety the decisions rendered by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee in the cases relating to the fielding of an ineligible player.”
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