The Court of Arbitration for Sport have ruled that Ecuador are to be docked three points in the qualifiers for the 2026 Men’s World Cup for using a document containing false information. However, the court also ruled against Chile and Peru, finding that defender Byron CASTILLO was indeed eligible to represent Ecuador.

Chile and Peru appealed to FIFA, and then to CAS, on the grounds that Castillo, who played in eight of Ecuador’s matches in the CONMEBOL group phase of qualifiers for the 2022 Men’s World Cup, was born in Colombia and was therefore ineligible to play for Ecuador. FIFA had already rejected the two nations’ appeals.

The court concluded that Castillo was born on SUN 25 JUN 1995 in Tumaco, Colombia, rather than on TUE 10 NOV 1998 in General Villamil Playas, Ecuador as stated on his official documents. Nonetheless, the court also found that Castillo was eligible to represent Ecuador, as he is considered an Ecuadorean national under that country’s law. The court therefore denied the appeals of Chile and Peru to disqualify Ecuador from the 2022 Men’s World Cup.

The court also concluded that Ecuador used a document containing false information about Castillo. Although the Ecuadorean Football Federation did not produce the document, the court ruled that under the FIFA Disciplinary Code, associations may be held liable for falsified documents. As a result, Ecuador have been fined 100,000 Swiss francs and docked three points in the qualifiers for the 2026 Men’s World Cup.