The case of the footballer, brought to the forefront following an accusation by the Chilean federation, continues to make noise. Ecuador failed in its appeal due to the subtraction of points with which it had started the Qualifiers. The full-back, now at Mexican side Pachuca, has been absent from La Tri for over a year.
Looking at the 2026 World Cup qualifying standings, Ecuador and Chile (who face each other this Tuesday in Quito) They are tied on five points. But there is one big detail: Sorting started with -3 . The reason is the punishment for the Byron Castillo affair, detonated by the complaint of the Chilean Football Federation, as the last administrative instance to participate in the Qatar World Cup in place of the Ecuadorians, alleging poor alignment of the footballer. Eventually, Guayas’ team participated in the World Cup, despite all the ANFP’s legal maneuvers through Brazilian lawyer Eduardo Carlezzo and the evidence that ultimately proved that The winger was born in Colombia.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) itself determined that the registration of Castillo as an Ecuadorian citizen was carried out by the Football Federation (FEF) with false information, which resulted in the sanction of a loss of points for the 2026 Qualifiers and a financial fine. “The Arbitration Panel was convinced that the player’s place and date of birth in the passport were incorrect, since he was born in Tumaco, Colombia, on June 25, 1995,” CAS said.
Today, the protagonist of this mess is outside the national team. For this reason, the question falls flat. What happened to Byron Castillo?
His last presence with La Tri dates back to November 12, 2022 , during a friendly match against Iraq, before the World Cup. All eyes were on him as well as Gustavo Alfaro’s technical staff, to find out whether or not the player was leaving for Qatar. Besides, it was Castillo’s last game last year, as he was injured and sidelined until March 2023. Despite his injury, the former Ecuador coach recently admitted that the decision not to take him to the World Cup was not his and that it was the beginning of the end of his cycle.
“I refused to put down Byron, he had to go to the World Cup, he deserved it, and I told everyone because it was my position, but the decision was up to the Federation. was the beginning of the end.” Alfaro told TyC Sports. After his participation in the World Cup, the coach left and not in the best conditions with the FEF. Currently he leads Costa Rica. “Beyond the FIFA decision, if the player was eligible for the qualifiers, he was also eligible for the World Cup,” he added.
Castillo had significant international projection as a right-back. He stood out in Barcelona, Guayaquil and went to Mexico, beyond the back and forth of his file. In July last year he was acquired by León, in exchange for 2.85 million euros. After having undergone surgery at the end of 2022, he resumed activity in March, without however managing to gain the desired playing time. In fact, he watched the 2023 Concachampions final from the bench. Last year he also had other personal problems, due to a court case for alimony, which generated an arraigo order.
In mid-2023, he was loaned to Pachuca, a team owned by the same León conglomerate. If we compare the previous season with the current season, we see a significant drop in his presence on the pitch. The 22-23 Liga MX campaign with Fiera saw him play 23 games (17 starts), adding 1,525 minutes and scoring one goal. The 23-24 season with the Tuzos shows this with 10 matches played (7 starts) and 655 minutes. It has no annotations.
Ecuador appealed to the Swiss Federal Court to appeal the CAS decision on the subtraction of points. However, this instance reaffirmed the original decision, proving that Castillo used fraudulent documents. “The best lesson that Ecuador can give to Chile, after everything they have told us, is to beat them on the pitch” issued by the president of the FEF, Francisco Egas . “I called on people to encourage us, but without insults, because this can lead to a new sanction for the team,” he added. He judged that “the FEF acted in a good manner and respected all processes”.
Before the double meeting of the Qualifiers, the Spanish coach Félix Sánchez urged to forget the sanction imposed on Ecuador for this affair. “(Failure) we can’t control. We must focus on what is happening on the ground and, from there, try keep adding so we forget about this three-point disadvantage when we look at the standings in the near future,” said the former Qatar coach.
If Ecuador had started the Qualifiers like the others, they would have eight points today. Byron Castillo is still making noise.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
