FIFA opens investigation over Byron Castillo

Last week it was reported that the Chilean FA had contacted FIFA over claims that Ecuador had fielded an ineligible player throughout their successful World Cup qualifying campaign.

The Chilean FA accused Ecuador of falsifying the documents of Byron Castillo who appeared in eight of Ecuador’s World Cup qualifying matches. The accusations revolve around two main issues.

The first is that Castillo was reportedly not born in Ecuador but actually in Colombia. The second is that Castillo’s year of birth is not 1998 as stated but 1995.

Chile are looking for FIFA to dock Ecuador points, and award each of their opponents who faced Ecuador where Castillo featured three additional points. If this punishment were to come into place, Chile would move up to fourth place in the standings and technically place them in the automatic qualification spots at the expense of Ecuador.

Matters have become confused as the World Cup draw has already taken place with Ecuador slated to open the tournament in a match against hosts Qatar.

FIFA this week have issued a response stating that they will indeed investigate the matter.