Ecuador are allowed to keep their place at the World Cup in Qatar, but will be penalized with a three-point deduction in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers and a fine. This can be seen in the judgment of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport Cas on Tuesday in the case of full-back Byron Castillo. The judges had come to the conclusion that Castillo was generally eligible to play in the qualification for the tournament in Qatar, but that the Ecuadorian federation FEF had violated Article 21 of the Fifa rules by using a document with false information. Accordingly, the information on Castillo’s date and place of birth should not correspond to the truth.
As a penalty, Ecuador will be deducted three points when qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, and the national association must also pay a sum of 100,000 Swiss francs. However, Chile and Peru’s hopes of Ecuador’s place at the World Cup were not fulfilled. Ecuador will face hosts Qatar in the opening game on November 20th.
The football associations from Chile and Peru went to the Cas for a World Cup exclusion of Ecuador because they doubted Castillo’s eligibility to play. Fifa had previously rejected the objection from Chile and Peru again.