Ecuador World Cup expulsion over Byron Castillo may be necessary embarrassment for FIFA

Expelling Ecuador from the World Cup with two months before it starts is undesirable for FIFA, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen.

In just over two months’ time the 2022 World Cup will kick off in Qatar, but fresh doubt is being sewn over who will even be playing in the tournament’s opening match after fresh allegations were made over the nationality of the Ecuadorian (or, as per the claims that have been made, more likely Colombian) defender Byron Castillo.

Castillo made eight appearances for Ecuador during their qualification period for the tournament and they finished the group stage in fourth place behind Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. But the claim has been made that Castillo isn’t from Ecuador, that he was actually born just over the border in Colombia, and even more damagingly, that this was common knowledge and has been systematically covered up.

These allegations were thrown out by FIFA in July, but new evidence has now surfaced in the form of an audio interview with Castillo with investigators from 2018 in which he stated that:

• He was born in 1995, as opposed to the 1998 date given on his Ecuadorian birth certificate.
• His full name is Byron Javier Castillo Segura, matching the details of his Colombian birth certificate, rather than the name on the Ecuadorian certificate, Byron David Castillo Segura.
• He left the Colombian city of Tumaco for San Lorenzo in Ecuador to pursue a career in football.
• An Ecuadorian businessman and owner of a since-suspended club provided him with a new identity.

This is clearly very damaging for Ecuador. It seems to indicate that not only was Castillo ineligible to play for Ecuador, but also that there was a fairly systematic cover-up by the FEF (the Ecuadorian Football Federation).

The 2018 leaked interview was with an investigator from the FEF who was looking into the controversy surrounding his nationality, and the new leaks also confirm that a copy of this recording was sent to the FEF at the end of 2018 along with a letter outlining what Castillo had said. Despite receiving this information at the end of 2018, the FEF ruled in 2019 that he was eligible to play for them. It’s been alleged that this ruling came about after a doctored birth certificate was provided with false information.

The controversy over this player’s nationality had begun in 2015, when a proposed transfer between two Ecuadorian clubs, Norteamerica and Club Emelec, collapsed due to ‘irregularities’ in his…