Eduardo Carlezzo, the Chilean lawyer who is pursuing the case against Ecuador in FIFA. Photo: AP Photo / Esteban Felix.
Lawyer Eduardo Carlezzo, representative of the Chilean Football Federation, has presented new evidence on the player’s complaint against his Ecuadorian counterpart Byron Castillo for alleged falsification of nationality, three days before FIFA issued a ruling on the controversial case.
At a press conference in Santiago, Carlezzo showed a baptismal certificate for Castillo, ceremony that would take place in the Colombian town of Tumacoin the southern department of Nariño, on the border with Ecuador.
According to the lawyer, this and other evidence would confirm that the 23-year-old footballer is Colombian and not Ecuadorian, and that his participation in the Ecuadorian team during the South American qualifiers would be flawed.
“That document is very important to me (…) Byron’s birth certificate in Colombia is dated November 25, 1996, it is recognized and validated by the church on June 1, 2022,” Carlezzo told reporters.
The Ecuadorian? Byron Castillo, axis of all the controversies ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Photo: FRANKLIN JACOME / POOL / AFP.
The lawyer has already argued that Castillo’s Ecuadorian birth certificate is fake. He explained that the footballer “was born on 25 July 1998 in Colombia”, but he uses a birth certificate “from 10 November in Ecuador”.
“It would be scandalous if FIFA did not know this information. There are many things, “said Carlezzo.
The controversy emerged in early May when the Chilean Football Association formalized a complaint to FIFA against its counterpart in Ecuador for the “use of a false birth certificate, false declaration of age and false nationality” of player Byron Castillo, that he would have been born in Colombia.
Chile asks for points in the two matches they played against Ecuador for the qualifiers, accusing Castillo who played in the tricolor team in those matches without being Ecuadorian.
The matches are won “on the pitch”, said Gustavo Alfaro. In Ecuador they are confident that FIFA will not intervene in the ranking. Photo: Dolores Ochoa / POOL / AFP.
“We are looking for points to go to the World Cup,” said Carlezzo.
FIFA is due to deliver the first instance ruling on Friday, after receiving documentation from both Chile and Ecuador.
The Ecuadorian coach, the Argentine Gustavo Alfaro, said he had acted “rightly” and had won the league table “on the pitch”.
Source: AFP
Source: Clarin