Castillo can play but Ecuador penalised

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has confirmed that Byron Castillo is eligible to compete for Ecuador at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, but has hit the country’s football federation with sanctions for breaching FIFA regulations.

The Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) now faces a three-point deduction for the next edition of the preliminary competition to the World Cup and a fine of CHF100,000 (£87,700/$101,600/€100,670) following the ruling.

The case was brought by the Peruvian Football Federation and Chilean Football Federation, who took it to CAS after it had earlier been dismissed by FIFA’s Appeals Committee.

In its verdict, CAS concluded that Castillo was eligible to compete in World Cup qualifying for Qatar 2022, as the Ecuadorian authorities had acknowledged Castillo as an Ecuadorian national.

However, CAS ruled the FEF had breached the FIFA Disciplinary Code for the use of a document containing false information.

The panel concluded that although Castillo’s Ecuadorian passport was authentic, it contained some false information, including his date and place of birth.

The panel said it was “comfortably satisfied” that Castillo was born in Tumaco, Colombia, on June 25 1995, in spite of an Ecuadorian court ruling in April 2021 that he was born in Ecuador on November 10 1998.

A points deduction for the next edition of the preliminary competition for the World Cup and fine was deemed the appropriate sanction by CAS as “no violation of the rules on eligibility had occurred and that there were a series of extenuating circumstances, among them, that the FEF started a disciplinary proceeding against the player which was halted by a decision of the Ecuadorian judiciary.”

Ecuador have been drawn in Group A of the FIFA World Cup alongside hosts Qatar, The Netherlands and Senegal.

Ecuador are due to face Qatar in the tournament’s opening match on November 20. (Insidethegames)