2022 World Cup: Could Ecuador be kicked out and what does it mean for England?

Ecuador face being kicked out of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, according to the Daily Mail who published new evidence on the case on Monday night.

The British newspaper’s report explained that one of the nation’s players had confessed to using a false birth certificate as part of an official investigation “that was covered up by the Ecuador Football Federation [FEF].”

The evidence relates to the case of Byron Castillo and comes just days before FIFA’s Appeals Commission are set to rule on the matter on Thursday as part of a wider enquiry by football’s governing body.

Chile’s initial complaint was dismissed in June with a ruling that Castillo was born in Ecuador.

Sportsmail have now published an audio recording that they say is from an interview with Castillo and contains content that will ‘create a major headache for FIFA’.

It’s claimed that Castillo clearly states that he was born in 1995 as opposed to 1998, which is the date written on his Ecuadorian birth certificate.

He also allegedly gave his full name as Bayron Javier Castillo Segura, which matches the details given on his Colombian birth certificate as opposed to the ‘Byron David Castillo Segura’ penned on his Ecuadorian document.

Castillo is also said to give a detailed description of leaving Tumaco in Colombia for San Lorenzo in Ecuador in order to pursue a career in football and named an Ecuadorian businessman who helped to furnish him with a new identity.

Sportsmail also published a letter containing the conclusions of the Investigative Commission, which was given to the FEF president and Disciplinary Commission in late 2018.

The document is said to state that Castillo is a Colombian national who was born in 1995, which runs contrary to the 2019 conclusion by