Ecuador facing World Cup ban

Ecuador is reportedly facing a potential World Cup ban after reports surfaced alleging that one of its star players is not actually from the nation.

SportMail released a bombshell report on Monday indicating that star Ecuadorian right back Byron Castillo has been lying about his nationality. 

The report includes various documents which indicate that Castillo was actually born in neighboring Colombia, which would make him ineligible to be part of the Ecuadorian setup for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Sportsmail published an interview from four years ago in which Castillo admitted to wide variety of controversial things. For one, Castillo admitted to being born in 1995, rather than in 1998 as is written on his Ecuadorian birth certificate. 

Additionally, Castillo said his full name is “Bayron Javier Castillo Segura” which matches the documents of his birth in Colombia. His Ecuadorian birth certificate lists him as being named “Byron David Castillo Segura.”

Castillo also gave a detailed account of himself leaving Colombia to head to Ecuador in order to pursue his career in football, and even gave the name of an Ecuadorian businessman who supplied him with the means to get a false identity.

The SportsMail report also points to evidence of a cover-up from the FEF, the Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol. The FEF allegedly was made aware of Castillo’s citizenship back in 2019 but still ruled him an Ecuadorian international.

FIFA has been investigating Castillo’s eligibility since April after the Chilean FA submitted a complaint about his nationality. FIFA’s Appeals Commission is expected to make its ruling on Castillo and Ecuador’s eligibility later this week, at which point they could make an example out of the situation by denying Ecuador the opportunity to compete in the World Cup. 

If Ecuador is kicked out of the World Cup, Chile would be the replacement team, which shines some light on why they were so adamant in exposing the dishonesty of the Ecuadorian federation.

Castillo plays club football in Mexico’s LIGA MX for club Léon. He has made 10 senior appearances for Ecuador, getting his first international cap for the country in 2021.