Soccer

Ecuador cleared to play at World Cup after CAS ruling on Byron Castillo

Chile and Peru had claimed Byron Castillo was ineligible to play in the qualifying rounds

Chile and Peru had claimed Ecuador should forfeit the games in which Byron Castillo played. Photograph: Getty Images

Tue Nov 8 2022 - 20:23

Ecuador’s place at the World Cup has been confirmed after the Court of Arbitration for Sport delivered its verdict on claims made by Chile and Peru that Byron Castillo had been ineligible to play in the qualifying rounds.

Chile and Peru had claimed Ecuador should forfeit the games in which Castillo played on the grounds he had not been born in Ecuador and relied on false documents to gain his passport, arguing that Peru should take their place at the tournament – in which Ecuador face hosts Qatar in the opening fixture on November 20th.

But CAS agreed with the verdict handed down in September by Fifa, which had determined that Castillo was eligible to play as he had been granted an Ecuadorian passport.

“Since the nationality of a player with a national association is determined by national laws ... Byron Castillo was eligible to play for the FEF in the preliminary round of the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 considering that the Ecuadorian authorities acknowledged Byron Castillo as an Ecuadorian national,” a CAS statement said.

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However, while ruling that Castillo’s passport was authentic, CAS said it contained falsified information – namely his place and date of birth as he was born in Tumaco, Colombia.

As a result, the court imposed a fine of 100,000 Swiss francs (£87,600) and a three-point deduction going into the next World Cup qualifying round for relying on a false document.

“The panel deemed it necessary to hold the FEF liable for an act of falsification under Article 21, para. 2 of the Fifa disciplinary code, even if the FEF was not the author of the falsified document but only the user,” the statement said.

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