Will one of the teams that have already secured their place in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar be dramatically eliminated? According to various reports, this may be the fate of Ecuador, who immigrated from the South American house but got entangled after it was discovered that Byron Castillo’s documents. The 23-year-old defender turned out to be 26 years old and was born in Tomaco, Colombia, so he could not represent the Ecuadorian national team.
Castillo, a player for Barcelona Guayaquil, started with seven games in the qualifiers and another partner as a substitute. He is also currently with the Ecuadorian team preparing for a friendly match against Cape Verde and last week played 0-1 against Nigeria.
The Chilean association is the one that sparked the whole thing a few months ago, when it demanded a 0: 3 technical victory, claiming that Castillo, who is a partner in the Ecuadorian uniform, is a Colombian at all. Today, the association’s lawyer presented additional documents backing up his claims and now the decision is being handed over to FIFA.
On Friday, the World Football Organization is due to deliver its ruling, and if Ecuador is indeed disqualified then they will have to decide who will replace it. According to Chile, Ecuador will lose 14 points as a result, Chile will gain two victories over it and then it rises to fourth place and gets a ticket to the World Cup. Another opinion is that Peru, who finished fifth, will be promoted to fourth place, and then Colombia will be the one to play in its place in the playoffs against Australia.
Chile, by the way, had a similar case in 2016 with a complaint regarding a Bolivian player who was not allowed to play. FIFA accepted the complaint, but the reduction of points to Bolivia also served Peru who competed with Chile for the ticket.
Ecuador, it will be recalled, was placed in the first house of the World Cup together with the hosts Qatar, the Netherlands and Senegal.