Ecuadorian football is hoping that FIFA’s sanction against the national team will be overturned in the case of player Byron Castillo, who was contested by the federations of Chile and Peru due to doubts about his nationality.

So prominently yes eff Castillo’s lawyer, Andrés Holguín, recalls that his client is fully qualified to play and that the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) has appealed the punishment handed down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS, French acronym).

Francisco Egas, president of the FEF, believes that it is not convenient to invite Byron Castillo to the Ecuadorian team

“Castillo is fully qualified to play, he is playing in Mexico without any problems, he has appealed the annulment to the Swiss Federal Court and a lawyer is in charge of that” in the European country, Holguin said.

He added that, in addition to sponsoring Castillo, a lawyer in Switzerland also represents the FEF, so “this is an ordinary process that will last as long as the case before the regular court.”

It would be a ‘risk’ to call up Byron Castillo for start of 2026 World Cup qualifiers, says player’s lawyer

“A reversal” of the TAS resolution has been requested, “but the tie will start with the penalty imposed (the deduction of three points in the following qualifiers). The annulment can be achieved, even after the tie is over, until the 2026 World Cup has started,” he said. is a lawyer.

For his part, FEF president Francisco Egas claimed last week that “Castillo will not be invited” as the TAS decision remains in force and that “the tie will most likely start with less than 3 points. “

The resolution of the CAS before the World Cup in Qatar, at the request of the Chilean Football Association, which was joined by the Peruvian Association, allowed Castillo to be called to the national team, but sanctioned the national team by deducting three points. and a fine of around 110,000 Swiss francs.

The complaint indicated that Castillo used false documents to join the Ecuadorian team, since he was apparently born in Colombia.

However, the Ecuadorian Civil Registry (the state’s identification agency) confirmed that Castillo was an Ecuadorian citizen as indicated in his documents.

FIFA rejected the request of the Chilean federation, since Castillo had documents from the authorities of the Ecuadorian state.

In its resolution, the Court of Arbitration for Sport assured that the player was qualified (invited) by Ecuador, although it also suspected that he had used false documents.

The FEF and Castillo’s lawyers expressed confidence that the Swiss authorities would overturn the TAS resolution and that Ecuador would be freed from the deduction of three points in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. (D)