June 13, 2023, 7:14 AM
June 13, 2023, 7:14 AM
The Nicaraguan team was excluded from the 2023 Gold Cup for improperly fielding a player in eight games, The Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf) reported this Monday.
The Concacaf Disciplinary Committee “has sanctioned the Nicaraguan Football Federation (Fenifut) for a serious violation of the applicable FIFA/Concacaf regulations by fielding an ineligible player in eight national team matches men of Nicaragua, including matches of the Concacaf Nations League (CNL) 2022-2023″, reported the confederation without detailing the identity of the soccer player.
According to ESPN, Concacaf sent a circular to its associations to explain this decision, which he attributes to the lineup in qualifying matches for tournaments such as the World Cup in Qatar-2022 by Richard Rodríguez Álvez, born in the Uruguayan town of Toledo.
Fenifut announced in a statement that it “immediately” filed an appeal for the Concacaf sanctions and demanded “that, as established in the regulations, its Appeals Committee meet immediately for the due review of the case.”
According to the statement, after Fenifut was notified of the process for improper alignment, they sent evidence “to demonstrate that in said scenario none of the articles have been violated established in the Disciplinary Codes and Regulations of Concacaf and FIFA”.
“Nicaragua earned its place sportingly on the field and for this reason there cannot be a sanction against the right to participate in a competition that was obtained legitimately and that deprives us of the objectives achieved”, Fenifut insisted.
The Nicaraguan team is in South America for friendly matches against Uruguay on Thursday and against Paraguay on Sunday.
The midfielder became a Nicaraguan national in 2019, the year in which he made his debut with the Central American team, but did not meet the requirement of FIFA legislation having previously lived at least five consecutive years in their new sporting country, ESPN explained.
Nicaragua will be replaced by Trinidad and Tobago in Group A of the Gold Cup (June 24-July 16), which also includes the United States, Jamaica and a fourth team that will come out of preliminary matches between Curaçao, Saint Kitts and Nevis, French Guiana and Saint Martin.
Nicaragua will also be relegated to league B of the 2023-2024 Concacaf Nations League.
