With the 2022 FIFA World Cup just two months away, a nation that was set to compete at the tournament could now reportedly be kicked out.
An investigation has taken place in recent months focusing on Ecuador right-back Byron Castillo's nationality, with the player having been accused of using a false birth certificate to represent the nation despite being born in Colombia.
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According to the Daily Mail, evidence to support this claim was brought to the attention of FIFA's Appeals Commission just days before they were set to reveal their ruling on the matter on Thursday.
The evidence reportedly indicates that the defender had documents falsified in order to play for Ecuador, and this was covered up by the Ecuadorean Football Federation (FEF).
Proof of this accusation is said to have come in an audio recording from four years ago, in which the footballer admits to an investigator that he was born in 1995 and not 1998, while he also gave his name as that which is on his Colombian birth certificate rather than the one on his fake Ecuadorian documentation.
Castillo also gave the name of the businessman who facilitated his new identity after leaving Colombia to pursue a professional football career in Ecuador.
An initial complaint around his false identity was made by Chile in April but this was dismissed by FIFA in June. However, the new evidence could see world football's organising body change their ruling on the matter, with it being suggested that the South American country, who are set to play against hosts Qatar in the World Cup's opening fixture, could be booted out of the tournament.
"I crossed the border because, you know, teams from Tumaco play in San Lorenzo," Castillo can be heard saying in the recording, per the Daily Express.
"I went to do some trials in San Lorenzo, I remember that very well. I never got picked for any of the teams at those trials, but my friend who was picked never turned up so I went instead.
"I went home, I told my parents that I have to go, but in that time we didn't have any money, I remember that very well. There was no money. And I started crying. So my dad said maybe another time and my mum as well. My mum was worried, she didn't want to do this to me and this and that.
"And I was worried. My dad left around 7, he came back at 11 or 12, with money, 20 000 Colombian pesos. With that I travelled to San Lorenzo (Ecuador).
"I arrived and I didn't know how to fix things. I didn't know. They said this and that. We are going to do this, we are going to help you.
"I needed help. I came here because I wanted to help my family. I knew the situation there in Tumaco. I arrived and started playing without any problem, oblivious.
"And just now I see all the problems come up."
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Attention will be focused on Thursday's big decision as FIFA will be under pressure to reconsider the case and the ramifications of any decision they make, with Chile having demanded that they take Ecuador's place in the tournament if they are kicked out.
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