Following the failure of its national team to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Chilean Football Association submitted a complaint to the International Federation of the Game (FIFA) against Ecuador, which guarantor its qualification, against the background of allegations about the false nationality of one of its players participating in the South American qualifiers for the World Cup. .
The Chilean Federation stated that full-back Byron Castillo did not have Ecuadorean citizenship, but was born in Colombia, to file a complaint with FIFA about “the use of a false birth certificate, false declaration of age and false nationality.”
Castillo, 23, played the first leg of the qualifiers against Chile, the first of which ended in a goalless draw in Quito in September 2021, and the second of Ecuador’s 2-0 victory on November 17 of the same year.
Chile ranked seventh in the joint group in the South American qualifiers for the football wedding in Qatar, 7 points behind Ecuador, the last fourth qualifier for the World Cup, to accompany the leaders Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.
On the other hand, Peru will play the fifth international play-off with the winner between the UAE and Australia on June 13th at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium in Qatar.
In the event that FIFA accepts the complaint of the Chilean federation and announces the victory of its national team in the two matches, this will allow it to reserve a qualifying position for the finals, knowing that the draw placed the Ecuador team in the first group along with the host Qatar, Senegal and the Netherlands.
Chilean federation lawyer Eduardo Carlizzo told the “National de Chile” channel that his Ecuadorean counterpart knew that Castillo had a Colombian birth certificate, and that the evidence had been sent to FIFA.
“The world of football cannot turn a blind eye to so much evidence” and “the practice of gross and willful irregularities in the registration of players cannot be accepted, especially when it comes to a global competition. Fair play must be both on and off the field,” the Chilean federation wrote in its statement.
According to the same source, “investigations conducted in Ecuador, including a report by the National Civil Status Office, the highest authority in this country, revealed inconsistencies in the player’s birth certificate.”
“A commission of inquiry from the Ecuadorean Football Federation aims to clarify the irregularities in the players’ files, and concluded that the player is Colombian,” he added.
However, the Ecuadorean federation insisted in a statement that Castillo is “duly registered with the competent legal authority” and has “all valid national documents”.
Under FIFA rules, a player cannot represent a country he does not have citizenship of.
Chile’s complaint alleges that Castillo was born in the Colombian city of Tumaco on July 25, 1995, and not in the Ecuadorean city of Palais on November 10, 1998.
Castillo wore the shirt of Ecuador’s national teams under 17 and 20 years before joining the first team, so he participated for the first time in September 2021 and played in 8 matches in the World Cup qualifiers for Qatar, and contributed to four victories against two draws and two defeats.
Castillo started his career with Norte America, before moving to Barcelona, Guayaquil, one of the country’s most prominent clubs.