Chile came back from the brink of losing their place in South Africa 2010.FIFA had given Chile’s football association (ANFP) 72 hours to make a chilean club called Rangers drop a court case that disputed their relegation from the Clausura championship,
Rangers took legal action after they were docked three points for fielding one too many foreign players under the Clausura’s 6+5 rule.This earned them an automatic relegation according to FIFA rules, They took the matter to the legal eagles forgetting completely that FIFA strictly forbids any government or civil interference in football matters.
What followed was a strongly worded threatening letter from FIFA to the ANFP threatening the worst.Chilean football fans who would be getting to see their country play in a world cup for the first time in 12 years were glad to know that the Rangers have succumbed to the arm twisting and the Chilean world cup dream is back on track.