Zurich (Reuters)
The International Football Association “FIFA” said that it has opened an investigation into the allegations that Ecuador paid a player ineligible to participate with it in the World Cup qualifiers.
The Chilean Football Association said last week that it had evidence that Barcelona’s Guayaquil back-back Byron Castillo was born in Tomaco, Colombia in 1995, and not in the Ecuadorean city of General Biamel Playas in 1998, as stated in his official papers.
The Chilean Football Association added that the Barcelona defender Guayaquil, who played in eight matches, in Ecuador’s qualifying matches for the Qatar finals, used a false passport and birth certificate.
Ecuador is one of four South American teams that have already qualified for the World Cup finals later this year, along with Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Fifth-placed Peru will play a play-off next month.
“FIFA has decided to open disciplinary proceedings in relation to the possible disqualification of Byron David Castillo Segura in relation to the aforementioned matches, and in this context, the Ecuadorean Football Association and the Peruvian Football Association have been invited to present their position before a committee,” FIFA said in a statement. Discipline of FIFA.
The Ecuadorean federation last week dismissed Chile’s allegations as “baseless rumours”. However, Castillo’s disqualification could cause problems for Ecuador.
Castillo played in eight out of 18 qualifiers with Ecuador, in which the team scored 14 points out of 26 points.
And if Ecuador loses points in the matches in which Castillo has participated, it could lose its current place in the Qatar finals.
Chile finished seventh in the qualifiers with 19 points, but Eduardo Carlizzo, a lawyer for the Chilean federation, said that if Chile got points from the two Ecuadorian matches in which Castillo participated, they would qualify for the World Cup instead of competing.
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