How Italy Could Still Qualify for the 2022 World Cup 🇮🇹 🏆
Plus The Americanization of Football, Funny FIFA Rankings and Diego Costa is Back.
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In just a few months, Qatar is set to kick off the 2022 World Cup with a match against Ecuador…or will it be Italy?
What’s going on here? Well, you will be happy to know that this story involves a fake name, false documents, and some very pissed Chileans.
To put it simply. Ecuador is facing the possibility of being thrown out of the World Cup because they fielded a player in the qualifying rounds who was not a legitimate Ecuadorian citizen.
Until a few days ago, most people believed that Byron David Castillo Segura was an Ecuadorian footballer who plays for Liga MX club León and the Ecuador national team. Now FIFA is investigating claims, brought by the Chilean Football Federation, that Castillo is in fact an illegal immigrant born in neighbouring Colombia.
So, let’s look at the evidence.
Recently, the Chilean FA discovered that Castillo has two birth certificates. One from Ecuador and another from Colombia. Logic would dictate that one of these is fake, especially when you considered that they have different names and dates of birth.
Ecuador and Castillo publicly claim that the Colombian one is fake, while the Chilean FA claims it is in fact the real one.
Interestingly, Sportsmail recently discovered and published a recorded interview that Castillo gave to Ecuadorian investigators a few years ago.
In this recording, Castillo openly clarifies a number of things:
He admits to being born in 1995 instead of 1998, meaning that the date on the Colombian certificate is correct.
He gives his full name as Bayron Javier Castillo Segura, matching the details of his Colombian birth certificate
He openly and intricately describes life in the Colombian city of Tumaco and outlines how he traveled across the border with Ecuador to pursue a football career.
And, confirms that an Ecuadorian businessman provided him with fake documents.
If validated and correct, this would be a clear violation of FIFA rules. To play for a national team you must meet one of the following criteria:
Have been born in the country.
Have a grandparent born in the country.
Be married to a citizen of that country.
Be a naturalised citizen of that country.
If the birth certificate is confirmed as fake, Castillo will fail to meet these criteria and FIFA could decide to banish Ecuador from the 2022 World Cup.
While it may seem unfair to banish an entire nation for one person’s fraud, it appears that the Ecuadorian FA was aware of Castillo’s supposed true identity.
Suspicion around Castillo’s nationality first arose in 2015, when a potential transfer was halted due to ‘irregularities with documentation.’
In 2018, investigators actually interviewed Castillo about his nationality, the origin of the audio recording, when investigating the use of fake passports in Ecuadorian football.
Despite the Ecuadorian FA supposedly receiving this recording, a final decision was made that Castillo was in fact an Ecuadorian citizen…?
With Ecuador potentially out of the Word Cup before it starts, which nation is set to replace them?
Precedent suggests that Chile would earn the vacant place (hence their strong complaints.) Although, there is a possibility that Peru or Italy could gain the place instead. Keep in mind that this is all just speculation and FIFA would need to confirm how they plan on choosing a replacement.
Whatever happens, this is already one of the most controversial World Cups… and it hasn’t even started yet!
🍎 Sports Business Bites
🇺🇸 Imagine the scene, it’s the final of the M&Ms Soccer Bowl, and the cheerleaders are performing an intricate routine to Nickleback while the hotdog seller weaves between excited fans. Harry Kane leads the Southern Lion All-Stars out onto the pitch to face their fierce opponents the Northern Warrior All-Stars. After singing the national anthem we are underway.
Pause for an extremely long advert break.
Oh damn, we missed the goal…anyway here is a twenty-minute Shakira concert.
While this may seem ludicrous for the average football fan, it is exactly what some fear the game may turn into as it comes under greater influence from American owners.
These fears were not exactly eased when new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly sat down for an interview and suggested that Premier League teams play a North vs South All-Star game to raise money for the football pyramid.
All-star games are popular in American sports leagues and relatively simple.
Imagine the best players from Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham teaming up to play against the stars of City, United, and Liverpool.
These games can be incredibly lucrative, with Boehly mentioning that a previous MLB All-Star game generated $200 million. This has intrigued some decision makers within football, who are always looking for new ways to make extra revenue.
That being said, many former footballers and current managers have come out against the idea, with some suggesting that Boehly is out of touch.
🇸🇪 Talking of preserving football history, Zlatan Ibrahimovich is not going to retire anytime soon.
The Swede, who turns 41 next month and is currently recovering from a serious ACL injury, has promised to continue in football until his ‘successor’ is found.
'I will be back soon. I'm not going to retire, I'm coming back and I won't give up.' he told La Gazzetta Dello Sport.
'If I see a player stronger than me, I will be ready to retire. But I haven't seen any player stronger than me yet,' he continued.
What exactly constitutes a ‘stronger player’ is not clear. There are already some that possess a similar goalscoring ability but perhaps he is also considering the off-field personality.
If we were to bet money, perhaps Haaland will be the future Zlatan.
🏎 Since the departure of Honda as Red Bull’s engine supplier, the F1 team has been on the lookout for a new partner.
Talks were being held with Porsche, with reports of an imminent agreement, however, that deal has now collapsed.
“The premise was always that a partnership would be based on equal footing, which would include not only an engine partnership but also the team,” explained Porsche in a statement. “This could not be achieved.”
According to reports, the two sides were unable to agree on key issues including how much technology would be shared with sister team Alpha Tauri, and who decides which drivers represent the team.
Porsche still maintains an interest in F1, but it is unclear which other teams they may begin discussions with. Red Bull doesn’t seem overly concerned either, stating that they see ‘no real disadvantage’ in the breakdown of the deal.
📹 Diego Costa is back and this time he brought some friends.
The former Chelsea and Athletico Madrid striker, fittingly referred to as an ‘animal’ by Jose Mourinho, has signed for Premier League side Wolves on a one-year deal.
After making such a statement signing, the social media team was forced to go all out for his announcement video.
Yes, those are real wolves that Diego Costa is holding…and one of them is called James Bond.
The experience is not one that Costa plans on repeating anytime soon, with the former Spanish international telling the club website: 'I was scared to death. Holding that chain I kept thinking, "What if this wolf thinks about jumping on top of me?"
Luckily, Costa is still with us and is ready to unleash his own ‘animal’ on the Premier League once again.
💯 To finish off, here is a fun video we found on Twitter.
The FIFA rankings for each footballer in the game have just been released and some players are not exactly impressed with their stats.
Calvin Bassey will not be the only one a little annoyed. Cristiano Ronaldo’s overall rating has dropped to 90, placing him eighth overall, behind rivals Messi, Mbappé, Benzema, and more.