May 05, (THEWILL) –Â Chile has demanded that world football governing body, FIFA, investigate suspicions that Ecuador fielded an ineligible player during their successful World Cup qualification campaign.
The Federacion de Futbol de Chile released a statement stating that right back Byron Castillo was born in Colombia in 1995, rather than Ecuador in 1998, as previously thought.
Castillo appeared in eight games for Ecuador during their World Cup qualifying campaign, with La Tri set to compete in the tournament in Qatar at the end of the year.
Ecuador has been assigned to Group A, which includes hosts Qatar, Senegal, and the Netherlands. But, Chile issued a statement on Thursday stating their claims against Castillo and requesting a FIFA inquiry.
La Roja came in seventh place in South American World Cup qualifying, just missing out on a place in the play-offs.
The statement read: “We inform that, on May 4, through the Carlezzo Abogados studio, we sent to the FIFA Disciplinary Commission a complaint against the player Byron David Castillo Segura and the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF), due to the use of false birth certificate, false declaration of age and false nationality by the aforementioned player.
“We understand, based on all the information and documents collected, that the facts are too serious and must be thoroughly investigated by FIFA.
“There are innumerable proofs that the player was born in Colombia, in the city of Tumaco, on July 25, 1995, and not on November 10, 1998, in the Ecuadorian city of General Villamil Playas.
“The investigations carried out in Ecuador, including a legal report by the National Directorate of Civil Registry, the highest authority in the matter in this country, declared the existence of inconsistencies in the birth certificate presented by the player, and reported that this document did not exist in its internal files, pointing out other weaknesses in the document, to conclude that it was possibly fraudulent.
“In addition, an investigative commission of the Ecuadorian Football Federation, aimed at clarifying the irregularities existing in the records of players before this federation, concluded that the player was Colombian.
“All that, obviously, was fully known to the FEF. The world of football cannot close its eyes to so many tests. The practice of serious and conscious irregularities in the registration of players cannot be accepted, especially when we talk about a world competition. There must be fair play on and off the pitch.”
It is as yet unclear how FIFA will respond and if the facts will mean that Ecuador risks being yanked off the World Cup entirely as punishment.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
