Mexico City.- The Nicaraguan football team, led by Marco Antonio ‘El Fantasma’ Figueroa, has proven that the player Richard Rodríguez Álvez, originally from Uruguay, did not commit any wrongdoing regarding the alleged improper alignment accused by Concacaf.

This comes after Concacaf excluded the team from the Gold Cup due to an alleged improper alignment, claiming that they did not meet the FIFA requirement of five years of residency in the country. Neither the current leadership of Nicaragua nor the Technical Director are at fault in this matter.

However, a can of worms has been opened in Concacaf, as several players from different national teams are suspected of unverified naturalization.

One such player is Jesús Ferreira from the United States national team, who is a naturalized Colombian and made his debut in the country’s top division in 2017 and for the national team in 2020, without fulfilling the five-year playing requirement in the MLS.

Similarly, the Canadian national team has several players who do not meet the FIFA’s time requirement and have not faced any sanctions.

Milan Borjan, born in Croatia to Serbian parents, has not continuously resided in Canada for five years since his debut. Sam Adekugbe, born in England to Nigerian parents, also does not meet the required number of continuous years playing in the country’s top division.

Additionally, Ismael Koné, born in Ivory Coast to parents of the same nationality, made his debut with the senior national team just last year and only played one season in the MLS. The same is true for Jonathan David, born in the United States to Haitian parents, who has not completed five consecutive years playing for a Canadian team.

Another similar circumstance involves Aubrey David, who made his debut for two senior national teams in the same year: French Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago.

However, Concacaf has not applied the same standards to these teams as they did to the team led by Marco Antonio ‘El Fantasma’ Figueroa, who received the maximum penalty in football by being eliminated from the Gold Cup.

It is worth recalling what happened with the Ecuadorian national team, which only received a punishment of three points deduction in the upcoming South American World Cup qualifying phase and a fine of 100,000 Swiss francs for improperly fielding Byron Castillo, who was born in Colombia and allegedly played in several matches during the Conmebol qualifiers.

It is surprising that Concacaf is targeting the Nicaraguan national team, which would have qualified for the Gold Cup for the first time in its history, to be held from June 24th to July 4th in its final stage.