CAS registers the appeals filed by Peruvian & Chilean football associations in the matter concerning Byron Castillo

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has registered the appeals filed by the Peruvian and Chilean football associations against the decision taken by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Appeal Committee on 15 September 2022 (the Challenged Decision).

The dispute concerns the eligibility of the player Byron David Castillo Segura to participate in the qualifying matches of the national team of the Ecuadorian Football Association (FEF) in the qualifying round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 between September 2021 and March 2022.

The appeal filed by the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF) is directed at the FEF and FIFA. The FPF requests that Ecuador be excluded from the FIFA World Cup 2022 and replaced by Peru, which is the best runner-up. The appeal filed by the Chilean Football Association (FFCH) is directed at the FEF, the player Byron David Castillo Segura, and FIFA. The FFCH requests CAS to rule that the Player was ineligible for the 8 matches played in the Qualifiers, declaring those matches as forfeited and placing Chile in the 4th position in the South America 2022 World Cup Qualifiers. Both appellants request that CAS issue its final award on or before 10 November 2022 at the latest.

In May 2022, the FFCH lodged a complaint with FIFA alleging the potential forgery of the documents that established Byron David Castillo Segura’s Ecuadorian nationality, as well as the alleged ineligibility of Byron David Castillo Segura’s participation for Ecuador in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 matches played between September 2021 and March 2022. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee initiated disciplinary proceedings and issued its decision on 10 June 2022 in which it dismissed all charges against the FEF and closed the proceedings. The Peruvian and Chilean football associations appealed such decision to the FIFA Appeal Committee which dismissed their appeal in the Challenged Decision and confirmed the first instance decision.

The CAS arbitrations have commenced and are at an early stage. A procedural calendar is in preparation.

The original press release can be found here :https://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/CAS_Media_Release_9175_9176_arrival.pdf

Tuesday, 08 November 2022