(Reuters) – Ecuador coach Gustavo Alfaro criticised the decision to change the date of the World Cup’s opening match between his side and hosts Qatar for giving him one less day to prepare for the tournament.
The World Cup was scheduled to get underway on Monday, Nov. 21, but organisers decided in August it would be better for the hosts to kick off the tournament and therefore the match between Ecuador and Qatar was moved forward to Sunday.
“I have one day less of preparation,” Alfaro told a news conference on Tuesday. “We were overtaken. We were not consulted if there was any problem in bringing forward the match from the 21st to the 20th.”
The Argentine manager questioned the amount of time he had to work with his squad compared to other teams at the World Cup as well as Qatar, whose players have been made available to the national team for five months as their championship is suspended.
“Now, I don’t want an advantage, but I do want the same rights as everyone else. The others have seven days and I have six. Why do I have six? Why didn’t they give me a day before (to work with the squad)?” Alfaro added.
Ecuador qualified after finishing fourth in the CONMEBOL qualifiers behind Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.
Yet their arrival at the tournament was shrouded in controversy after Chile accused them of using an ineligible player in qualifying, Byron Castillo, a claim that FIFA dismissed.
Ecuador’s place was confirmed on Tuesday when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that Castillo was an Ecuadorian national.
It will be the South American country’s fourth appearance at a World Cup, after Japan in 2002, Germany in 2006 (where they had their best performance and reached the Round of 16), and Brazil in 2014.
Ecuador are in Group A along with Qatar, the Netherlands, and Senegal.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Toby Davis)
