MADRID/DOHA: Byron Castillo, the Ecuador defender at the centre of a World Cup eligibity row, will not be going with his team-mates to the finals in Qatar.

The Ecuadorian right-back was injured and substituted in midweek in a private friendly in Madrid against Iraq. Later the Ecuador ambassador in Doha said that the player would not be travelling to Qatar with the rest of his team-mates.

Trouble eruped over Castillo originally in 2017 when he was dropped from Ecuador’s youth squad after allegations that he had been born in Tumaco, a Colobian city near the countries’ border.

In April 2021, after an investigation, his Ecuadorian nationality was confirmed and he played in the World Cup qualifiers. Chile and Peru protested all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport which ruled that his documents had been falsified but not his Ecuador naturalisation. Hence he was qualified to play at the World Cup.

Instead, it seems, he will not.

The Ecuadorian ambassador in Qatar, Pascual Del Cioppo, said: “Unfortunately, Byron Castillo is not coming. It would be the finishing touch for Byron to come and score a goal, but unfortunately, the news we have is that he is not coming.

“It is a decision that the Federation has taken, most likely to avoid future problems.”

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