Byron Castillo last played for the national team 380 days ago (in a friendly match Ecuador 0, Iraq 0, November 12, 2022). And two years, nine months and two days ago, the Civil Registry registered him as an Ecuadorian citizen (February 25, 2021) by order of Judge Ronald Guerrero Cruz, of the Northern Judicial Unit 2, Criminal Unit, based in Guayaquil. The judge declared it appropriate habeas data presented by the defense attorney.

However, even the time that has passed since the two mentioned events has not allowed Castillo to free himself from being a character embroiled in controversy. His club, Mexican Pachuca, is trying to get rid of the winger in every possible way, for legal reasons, but also because of his low level of sports.

There is no problem with Almada

It has nothing to do with the differences between Castillo and coach Guillermo Almada – the version that is intended to be installed from the local media – which will cause the player to leave Pachuca, but the controversy that exists regarding the defender’s country of origin and also his real age.

The Pachuca group paid $3.1 million to Barcelona SC for Castilla in July 2022, according to a Mexican magazine Total football, to join the club León, from Guanajuato. They reportedly got a pass on the promising Ecuadorian full-back born in 1998, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) decision would imply a different reality about Castillo.

On November 8, 2022, CAS decided to sanction the Ecuadorian Football Association with an economic corrective measure – following protests by football leaders from Chile and Peru – for settling Castillo in the World Cup qualifiers in Qatar, and deducting 3 points for the National Team in the World Cup qualifiers championship 2026

‘Get rid of Castillo’

CAS detailed the legal reasons for both sentences in an 86-page document in which it listed several reasons. For example, that there is “false information” in Castillo’s passport and that he admitted “that he was not born in Ecuador”, but in Tumac (Colombia) in 1995, not in 1998, after listening to an audio interview that Colonel 2018 Jaime Jara, then president of FEF’s investigation commission, made a player.

For this reason, according to Total football, in a note published last Friday, “The Pachuca group wants to get rid of the Byron Castillo problem. 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, and not within the León club within Liga MX. Tuzos no longer want him in their ranks to avoid any legal situation that could arise with the footballer.”

In the information that appeared in the digital edition, signed by Luis Esteban Lozano, it is added that “this situation has again put him (Castillo) in the eye of the hurricane. In the meantime, Pachuca knows that the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) and Liga MX can take action on the matter and apply a penalty for accepting footballers with false documentation.”

Will there be demand?

The note refers to possible legal action that the management of the national team Hidalgo could take against the institution that sold them the player’s pass, according to the version Total football. “This made the situation very complicated for Castillo and Grupo Pachuca. Furthermore, there was talk that they could sue Barcelona de Guayaquil for the sale they made of a footballer who had documentation problems,” it said.

But immediately comes the clarification Total football: “However, the reality is that this discussed possibility has no basis, as the Ecuadorian team was also unaware of the situation when the transaction was made.”

The fiasco that the defender brought to the sport in Mexico also has an effect. “Castillo is very close to becoming Pachuca’s first victim. His performance left a lot to be desired within Liga MX. The effect was not even close to what was expected, in addition to the legal problems it is going through,” the note reads. (D)