Ecuador’s World Cup Player Eligibility Fight – A Review Of The Byron Castillo Case  

The FIFA Men’s World Cup got underway on Sunday 20 November 2022, when Ecuador beat the host nation, Qatar, in the opening fixture.

However, the Ecuadorian Football Association had been involved in a legal dispute to ensure that their men’s A national team (Ecuador) is legitimately entitled to take part in this tournament. The Ecuadorian FA has faced allegations from the Chilean Football Association and the Peruvian Football Federation that they fielded an ineligible player, Byron Castillo (Castillo), throughout their qualifying campaign in the lead-up to the World Cup finals.

This article reviews the dispute, which was appealed all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for a final ruling.