Once the CONMEBOL Qualifiers ended, Ecuador won a direct ticket to Qatar 2022 with the 4th place. Everything was joy with La Tri, but now things could change as it is uncertain if they will participate in the next FIFA World Cup.

After they advanced to the biggest soccer tournament in Men’s category, Ecuador was under the radar instantly. Documents about Byron Castillo’s nationality appeared and they pointed out that the defender was not Ecuadorian but in fact he is Colombian. Reportedly there is new evidence confirming this mistake and La Tricolor could be kicked out of Qatar 2022.

Report: Byron Castillo admitted using a fake Ecuadorian passport

Byron Castillo’s case has been a very controversial topic for FIFA, Ecuador and two South American national teams: Chile and Colombia. According to some reports, the defender was born in this last named country and the Ecuador Football Federation[FEF] covered it up.

Chile made a complaint to FIFA by saying that Byron Castillo should have not been lined up by Ecuador in the Qatar 2022 CONMEBOL Qualifiers as they said that the defender was Colombian, not Ecuadorian. After the first audience, the organization issued a favorable ruling to Ecuador and nothing else happened, but now this could change.

According to Sportsmail, there’s new evidence on Byron Castillo’s case that could kick out Ecuador of Qatar 2022. An audio from an interview to the player,made in 2018 by FEF’s Investigative Commission, reveals some details that doesn’t match to what the Ecuador Football Federation said to FIFA about his situation.

• Byron Castillo says in the interview that he was born in 1995, not in 1998 as the Ecuadorian birth certificate establishes.
• He presents himself as Byron Javier Castillo Segura and not Byron David Castillo Segura. The first name appears like that in the Colombian birth certificate that it was revealed months ago.
• Byron Castillo tells how he left the city of Tumaco (Colombia) to play for San Lorenzo (Ecuador) and a businessman (Marco Zambrano)helping him to get a new identity to play in Ecuador..

This information comes days before a new audience on the case. FIFA’s Appeals Commission will receive this Thursday, September 15, the new arguments to kick out Ecuador of Qatar 2022. Chile said before that Byron Castillo was born in Tumaco in 1995 and not in Ecuador in 1998 as it appeared in his passport.

This is not the first time that Byron Castillo is under the spotlight for a situation regarding his passport. In 2015, the player was involved in a possible transfer from CS Norte America to Emelec, both teams from Ecuador, but the deal went down due to ‘irregularities’ in his documents.

They were months of speculation, even terror for the Ecuadorian cause. The Chilean Federation focused all its tools to try to prove that Castillo was Colombian by birth and therefore his alignment with la Tri merited a sanction. FIFA raised expectations by agreeing to investigate the matter and issue a ruling.

In the end, the ruling decided to respect what Ecuador had earned through 18 tough matches in the voracious Conmebol Qualifiers: Byron Castillo and company were protected by FIFA and will bask in the fruits of their labor by being able to compete in Group A of the next FIFA World Cup, in which they will face hosts Qatar, Sadió Mane’s Senegal and Frenkie de Jong’s Netherlands.

Byron Castillo’s new Liga MX team

Castillo had already reached the top of what Ecuador could offer him: belonging to the historic Barcelona of Guayaquil proves it. So it was time for him not only to enjoy Qatar 2022, but also to prove his talent in the competitive Liga MX, as he was signed by a big Mexican club: Club León.

Behind América and Guadalajara, the winningest teams in Mexican soccer, there is a group of squads fighting to climb to the top, and among them is Cruz Azul, Toluca andLeón, this one with its eight league titles won so far, three of them since 2013.

Curiously, at Los Panzas Verdes, Byron Castillo will play alongside a player from the country that tried to leave Ecuador out of Qatar 2022, and that is striker Victor Dávila, who has Chilean nationality. Castillo will have to forget soon the bitter pill he had to swallow and focus on giving his best from July 1, when Liga MX starts its Apertura 2022 Tournament.

The Chilean soccer federation had brought up that Castillo may have been born in Colombia and not Playas, Ecuador but in their search to prove wrongdoing they may have missed that Castillo’s nationality was disputed and proven only a year earlier.

In 2019 the Barcelona defender was under investigation for adulterating his birth documentation but eventually in April of 2021 it was determined that Castillo was indeed Ecuadorian.

FIFA statement on Ecuador’s Byron Castillo

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has rendered its decision in relation to the potential ineligibility of the player Byron David Castillo Segura with regard to his participation in eight qualifying matches of the national team of the Ecuadorian Football Association (FEF) in the preliminary competition of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.

After analyzing the submissions of all parties concerned and considering all elements brought before it, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to close the proceedings initiated against the FEF.

The Disciplinary Committee’s findings were notified today to the parties concerned. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the parties have ten days in which to request a motivated decision, which, if requested, would subsequently be published on legal.fifa.com. The present decision remains subject to an appeal before the FIFA Appeal Committee.

Ecuador can finally look towards the World Cup as they will be in Group A with host nation Qatar, Netherlands, and Senegal.

Since then, the Chilean federation is expecting a full investigation from FIFA for a player who has had issues over his nationality before. In 2017 Castillo had to be separated from the Ecuador U-20 squad over the same issue, the player was accused then of altering his birth documentation.

In 2021 Ecuador believed the situation to have been clarified and Castillo was capped a total of 8 times during World Cup qualification. Now once again Chilean soccer officials have raised serious concerns over Byron Castillo’s true nationality and the matter has been taken to FIFA.

FIFA statement on Byron Castillo

The FIFA statement on the matter, which was issued on Wednesday,stated: As recently confirmed by FIFA, the Chilean Football Federation has filed a complaint with the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, in which it presents various allegations about the possible falsification of documents that grant Ecuadorian nationality to the player Byron David Castillo Segura, as well as the possible non-compliance of said footballer with the call criteria to participate with the national team of the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) in eight qualifying matches, corresponding to the preliminary phase of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup™.

In view of the foregoing, FIFA has decided to open disciplinary proceedings in relation to Byron David Castillo Segura’s possible breach of the call criteria for the indicated matches. In this context, the FEF and the Peruvian Football Federation have been invited to present their positions before the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

While FIFA has yet to indicate what type of punishment Ecuador and the player will receive, there has been growing rumors that Ecuador could be expelled from the 2022 World Cup entirely. It is Chile’s intent to take Ecuador’s place in the tournament and have push the hardest over other South American nations to investigate the matter.

Ecuador finished 4th in qualifying and have since been drawn into Group A with Qatar, Senegal, and the Netherlands. Ecuador is slated to play Qatar’s first game of the tournament and have begun preparations for the big event.