Spain, Colombia make player replacements for U-17 World Cup

LAGOS, Oct. 22 (Xinhua/GNA) -- The Organising Committee of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup on Wednesday announced the replacement of players by two of the countries taking part in the competition .

According to a statement on the competition's website, Spain and Colombia had requested to replace one player each and the committee headed by FIFA's Vice-President Jack Warner has approved it.

Spain had on Wednesday requested to replace Real Madrid midfielder Alejandro Iglesias with Eduardo Ramos.

Spain plays their first match in the competition on Oct. 26 in Kano, taking on the U.S. in Group C that also includes the United Arab Emirates and Malawi.

No explanation was given for the replacement of the player who turned 17 on Oct. 15.

Colombia had earlier replaced star midfielder Edwin Cardona of Nacional with Jean Blanco on account of a serious injury.

Colombia is due to play their first match in southeast Nigeria's Calabar center against The Netherlands on Oct. 25, in Group C which also features Iran and Gambia.

FIFA competition regulations demand that each country submit the list of players to be used at the competition latest about two weeks to the competition.

However, changes can still be made days before the competition if satisfactory explanation is given to the Organizing Committee.

GNA