Ecuador kept their place in the Qatar World Cup after football governing body FIFA on Friday closed an inquiry sought by non-qualifying Chile into the eligibility of a key player.
The FIFA disciplinary committee said in a statement it had decided to “close the proceedings” against the Ecuador Football Federation (FEF) after Chile disputed the nationality of full-back Byron Castillo.
If Chile had been successful, they would have leapfrogged Ecuador into direct World Cup qualification.
The Chilean football federation (FFCh) said it would appeal the decision all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if need be.
“The eloquent and substantiated evidence we showed was not enough. Surprisingly the ruling was not in our favor,” FFCh president Pablo Milad told reporters in Santiago.