Byron Castillo joins a long list of soccer players that Ecuador has imported to Mexico in recent times and who have taken an insignificant step there. Same thing happened to Joao Rojas, Bryan Coward Angulo, Ayrton Preciado, Erick Snake Castillo, Gabriel Cortez, José Angulo, Jonathan Borja, Marcos Caicedo, Marlon de Jesús, among others: failed. With Castillo, transferred as a winger with notable offensive projection, nothing happened in León, where he played 26 games and scored a goal. From there he jumped to Pachuca, where he completed twelve appearances and was a substitute.

Byron Castillo, the ‘serious legal problem’ Pachuca wants to get rid of: let him go anywhere

But in addition to bad sports results, Castillo also has a more serious problem that, as usual, creates bad times for him. “Grupo Pachuca wants to get rid of the Byron Castillo problem,” is the title of a note published by the magazine last Friday Total football, from Mexico, on their website. The leadership of the club from the state of Hidalgo would have doubts about the player’s country of birth.

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The note mentions that “the full-back had serious legal problems with the issue of his nationality.” The reason why they no longer want to have him in the Tuzos or within Club León, the MX league. The reality is that for the 2024 Clausura tournament, we will see him with a different jersey.”

Going to Barcelona SC?

According to a note signed by journalist Luis Estan Lozano, Castillo’s next destination is Ecuador. “He arrived in Mexican football in June 2022 from Barcelona SC in his country, in exchange for 3.1 million dollars. The Guayaquil team is planning to bring him back to his homeland in the winter market and they already have him as one of the priorities for strengthening their team at the beginning of 2024.

This is how Byron Castillo admitted he wasn’t born in Ecuador: audio transcription of the interview TAS listened to before he was fined by FEF

The outgoing board chaired by Carlos Alfaro Moreno has not officially announced an alleged interest in re-engaging Castillo, who was national champion with the Yellows in 2020. Even the board of directors led by Antonio Alvarez, who was appointed by the club’s electoral court as the new Canarana captain – although it is not known when he will formally take office – did not name possible signings for next season.

However, since “(Castillo’s) performance has not been anywhere near what was expected,” the Pachuca Group “is looking to accommodate him in both Mexico and Ecuador,” he notes. Total football. It is added that his departure from Tuz is inevitable because in Pachuca they are willing to negotiate, either abroad or in the MX league. The truth is that they want to get just a little money in exchange to be able to mitigate what was invested in a footballer, who ended up not playing in Mexican football.”

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What would the canaries do?

During his stay in Barcelona, ​​SC Castillo played, according to the specialized portal Transfermarkt, 147 official matches, scored nine goals and provided 17 assists. These are the best numbers in the defender’s career. But if the return to the Astillero is completed, with which nationality would Barcelona SC register Castilla, before Conmebol, to play in the 2024 Copa Libertadores? What guarantees that your eventual team will not be challenged by rival clubs? Would the Toreadors risk the possible points they win in the continental tournament? Will there be a fine?

In the country, for all intents and purposes, Castillo is an Ecuadorian citizen. On January 28, 2021, Judge Ronald Guerrero Cruz, of the North 2 Criminal Justice Unit, based in Guayaquil, ordered the Civil Registry of Ecuador – in a letter dated February 25 of that year – to register the soccer player as Ecuadorian, after declaring it suitable habeas data presented by the defense attorney.

However, that court order favoring Castillo carried no weight on November 8, 2022, when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) decided to sanction the Ecuadorian Football Association with an economic corrective measure – following protests from the leaders of Chile and Peru football – over Castillo’s match-fixing in the qualifiers for the World Cup in Qatar, and deducting 3 points from the national team in the qualifying tournament for the 2026 World Cup.

Possible risks

According to TAS, Castillo’s Ecuadorian passport contains “false information”. Furthermore, the four judges handling the case believed that Castillo had admitted that he was “not born in Ecuador” but in Tumac, Colombia (1995, not 1998), after listening to an audio interview the player gave in 2018. Colonel Jaime Jara, then president of the Investigative Commission of the FEF. For the CAS judges, “the audio recording of part of the player’s interview with Colonel Jaro is not only acceptable, but also reliable (…); “The panel considers that the audio recording is admissible as evidence in this proceeding.”

An appeal by the FEF to the Federal Court of Switzerland, to try to overturn the CAS penalties, was rejected. In international competition, with the Canaries having qualified for the 2024 Libertadores, what possible sanctions could Barcelona SC face if Castillo’s return materialises? Would the Buenos Aires board take the risk?

On July 31, 2015, after 58 days as an Emelec player, the blue club canceled Castillo’s engagement because after internal investigations, the blue leaders at the time came to the conclusion that he was not born in Ecuador and was no longer of age.youth. It never debuted with electric cars.

Outside Three, twice

In January 2017, the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control (CCCCS) reported irregularities in the documentation of Castillo and another selected player (Jhon Pereira). For this reason, a few hours before Ecuador’s debut in the South American U-20, the FEF decided to sideline from the squad to the side.

In December 2018, Jaime Jara, a retired colonel of the National Police, presented to the FEF Executive Committee the results of an investigation into Castillo’s origins. The investigation concluded that the soccer player was born in Tumac, Colombia in 1995.

On November 15, 2022, Ecuador was the last of the 32 countries scheduled to compete in the World Cup in Qatar to submit its squad list. A week before, the TAS had sanctioned the FEF for the Castillo case; However, coach Gustavo Alfaro stubbornly wanted to include him in the list, but the defender was left out by the manager’s decision. Thus, the risks at the World Cup were avoided. (D)