Explosive audio of Byron Castillo could leave Ecuador without World Cup

The Ecuadorian football team could be banned from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar over new evidence that one of its footballers used a false birth certificate, according to British tabloid ‘Daily Mail’ on Monday.

The paper reports that the “extraordinary disclosure” this week is before the FIFA appeals committee’s decision on the matter, which could affect the Ecuadorian team’s participation in Qatar.

The Daily Mail publishes the recording of what it claims is a conversation between footballer Byron Castillo and investigators from the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) who analyzed his case in 2018.

In the audio, the athlete “clearly states that he was born in 1995, not 1998, as stated on his Ecuadorian birth certificate,” the British newspaper said.

The footballer lists his full name as Bayron Javier Castillo Segura, which corresponds to his Colombian birth certificate, not the Ecuadorian one, which identifies him as Byron David Castillo Segura, according to the “Daily Mail.”

He “describes in detail how he left the Colombian city of Tumaco to go to San Lorenzo in Ecuador to try to build a career in football” and “names Ecuadorian businessmen who gave him a new identity,” he adds. ready.

At the same time, the newspaper publishes a letter describing the federation’s conclusions after those investigations.

The letter assures that Castillo is a Colombian citizen who was born in Tumaco in 1995 and adds that there is evidence of the player’s “confession”.

Despite this, in 2019 the FEF officially determined that Castillo is an Ecuadorian citizen, adds the Daily Mail, ensuring that Castillo “admitted to using a fake passport and the Ecuadorian federation hid it”.