FIFA has opened an investigation into claims made by Chile that Byron Castillo was not eligible to feature in eight of Ecuador’s World Cup qualifying fixtures.
The Chilean football federation recently asked FIFA to investigate its claim that Castillo is actually Colombian and not entitled to have played in qualifiers for Ecuador.
According to the Chilean football federation, they have proof that he 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 was also claimed the Barcelona of Guayaquil full-back used a false passport and birth certificate.
The complaint came more than one month after South American qualifying ended and Ecuador were drawn into a group with host nation Qatar, Holland and Senegal.
‘FIFA can confirm that it has received a formal complaint from the Chilean FA in relation to this matter,’ football’s governing body said in a statement at the time.
FIFA gave no timetable for a possible disciplinary case ahead of the World Cup kicking off Nov. 21.
However, they have now revealed that an investigation into Castillo’s eligibility is now underway.
The statement reads: ‘As recently confirmed by FIFA, the Chilean Football Association has lodged a complaint with the FIFA Disciplinary Committee in which it made a series of allegations concerning the possible falsification of documents granting Ecuadorian nationality to the player Byron David Castillo Segura, as well as the possible illegibility of the said player to participate in eight qualifying matches of the national team of the Ecuadorian Football Association (FEF) in the preliminary competition of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
‘Bearing the above in mind, FIFA has decided to open disciplinary proceedings in relation to the potential illegibility of Byron David Castillo Segura with regard to the above-mentioned matches.
‘In this context, the FEF and the Peruvian Football Association have been invited to submit their positions to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.
‘Further details will follow in due course.’