Ecuador are reportedly set to be expelled from this year’s World Cup over claims their defender Byron Castillo falsified his birth documents and is actually Colombian – which means he would have been ineligible for their qualifying campaign.
The country’s FA had been investigated by FIFA over the allegations raised by Chile, who finished seventh in South American qualifying and missed out on a place at the Qatar tournament, while Ecuador finished in fourth place.
Chile claimed they had proof that Castillo was born in Tumaco, Colombia in 1995, and not in the Ecuadorean city of General Villamil Playas in 1998 as stated on his official documents. It claimed the Barcelona of Guayaquil full back used a false passport and birth certificate. A new report from Mundo Deportivo claims FIFA has already made its decision to kick Ecuador out after concluding its probe into the allegations and an announcement will be made in the next few days.
The report also claims there is a faint hope from Italy that they might be able to take advantage of Ecuador’s potential expulsion and be included in the World Cup despite being dumped out by North Macedonia in the play-offs.
That might be possible if FIFA award Ecuador’s place to the team with the best position in their World Rankings instead. Ecuador have been drawn in Group A for the World Cup alongside hosts Qatar, Senegal and the Netherlands.
Credit: dailymail.co.uk
