The British newspaper "Daily Mail" revealed new evidence of forged travel documents, audio recordings and documents confirming that Ecuadorean player Byron Castillo was born in Colombia, which threatens Ecuador with exclusion from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Ecuador is scheduled to play in the opening match of the World Cup against Qatar (host country) on November 20 at the start of the first group matches, which also includes the Netherlands and Senegal, if no decision is made to exclude them from the tournament.
And the Daily Mail said in a lengthy report published on its website on Monday that Ecuador is at risk of being excluded from the World Cup in Qatar after the newspaper obtained new evidence of a shocking confession from an Ecuadorean player using a forged birth certificate, noting that this confession was presented in an official investigation that covered up. It is the Ecuadorean Football Association.
EXCL: Ecuador face being kicked out of the World Cup amid new evidence of fake passports, multiple identities and an apparent cover-up |
@MattHughesDM https://t.co/qQiMTSHx6j
— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) September 12, 2022
The newspaper published an audio clip recorded for the right-back - who appeared in 8 matches in the World Cup qualifiers - in which he states that he was born in 1995, contrary to the date mentioned in his Ecuadorean birth certificate, that he was born in 1998, as he said his full name in accordance with the details of his Colombian birth certificate instead of his existing name in Ecuador.
She confirmed that the audio recording is from an official interview conducted by the head of the investigation committee of the Ecuadorean Football Federation (FEF) with Castillo in 2018, in which he admitted that he was born in Colombia, pointing out that the International Football Association "FIFA" (FIFA) obtained On the recordings, days before the Appeals Committee issues the final decision regarding the player’s case, scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday.
Qué dijo el abogado de Byron Castillo sobre los audios que se filtraron
🗣Tras las grabaciones que salieron a la luz que podrían dejar an Ecuador sin Mundial, el representante legal del futbolista se expresó al respecto y fue contundente.
👇 https://t.co/K4KP7uLdXp
— TyC Sports (@TyCSports) September 13, 2022
Among the accusations revealed by the investigations were also the extraction of forged passports and the concealment of the player's real nationality and multiple identities, which the British newspaper supported in its report by publishing pictures of birth certificates and documents confirming the validity of the claim.
The case comes against the background of the accusation by the Chilean Football Association that Castillo was born in 1995 in Tumaco, Colombia, even though his passport indicates that he was born in Ecuador in 1998.
And in the interactions on the new evidence revealed by the Daily Mail, Qatari international referee Saud Al-Athba said in a tweet on his personal account on Twitter today, Tuesday, "If the news is true, the accounts of our team's group will be confused."
International press reports
Ecuador is threatened with expulsion from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
There are suspicions that defender Peron Castillo is an illegal Colombian refugee who does not belong to Ecuador and participated in the national team with false papers.
The truth of the news will confuse the accounts of our team 😅 #Qatar 2022 #Qatar_World_Cup_2022
— Saud Al-Athba (@saoudalathba) September 13, 2022
An African sports journalist indicated that Ecuador risked being "expelled" from the World Cup in Qatar after revealing the audio recording of the player's confession of fraud.
Mexican journalist Alvaro Cruz commented on the possibility of Ecuador's exclusion from the World Cup, saying in a tweet, "If Ecuador is expelled from the World Cup because of the Byron Castillo case, Peru should go to Qatar 2022 because it ranked fifth in CONMEBOL, and that would be fair."
On the other hand, sports journalists and activists expressed their sympathy with the player in the case, as some of them saw that he will be the victim in the end, and one of them described him as "poor person", and perhaps Ecuador will not be punished by removing it from the World Cup.
Ecuador risk being kicked out of the #FIFAWorldCup after audio, documents proved Byron Castillo admitted to using a false birth certificate.
Chilean FA lodged an official complaint to FIFA in April claiming that Castillo falsified his birth documents and was an illegal immigrant.
pic.twitter.com/N8BIqU43jr
— Erik (@EricNjiiru) September 13, 2022
Si echan a Ecuador del Mundial por el tema de Byron Castillo debe ir Perú a Qatar 2022 por haber sido 5to de Conmebol, sería lo Justo.
— Alvaro Cruz Santibáñez (@AlvaroCruzS) September 12, 2022
Entendiendo la naturaleza del caso, y conociendo los reglamentos de FIFA y los casos anteriores, dudo mucho que Ecuador se quede sin Mundial, aún con esos audios.
Al que van a cepillar va a ser a Byron Castillo.
— Martín del Palacio Langer (@martindelp) September 12, 2022
Sigue la novela Ecuador/Chile/Byron Castillo.
Lo único que puedo decir es pobre Byron Castillo.
Lo mal que la debe estar pasando.
— Fernando Petrocelli (@fpetrocelli) September 12, 2022
Byron Castillo's lawyer, Andrés Holguin spoke about the “evidence”:
"That audio here in Ecuador has already been presented to the Court, it has already been used and two judges rejected it because it was not valid proof and there was no proof that was Castillo's voice."
— Diego Montalvan (@DMontalvan) September 13, 2022
Some points on the Byron Castillo case:
– Thursday is the FIFA Appeals Commission meeting
– The audio that has been released was already heard in Ecuador courts
– despite that the FEF officially ruled Castillo an 🇪🇨 citizen in 2019
– FIFA has been investigating since April
— Diego Montalvan (@DMontalvan) September 12, 2022
¡La nueva prueba!
La selección de futbol de Ecuador puede ser expulsada del Mundial de Qatar 2022 ante nuevas evidencias de que uno de sus futbolistas, Byron Castillo.
https://t.co/WtovpCBFFg
— ESPN Colombia (@ESPNColombia) September 12, 2022