Ecuador keeps place at World Cup after CAS hands out points deduction after using player born in Colombia

Ecuador has kept its place at the 2022 World Cup, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled.

The South Americans have been deducted three points in qualifying for the 2026 tournament after the use of false information to obtain a passport for a Colombia-born player.

The CAS ruling comes 12 days before Ecuador plays host Qatar in the opening game at the World Cup and ended the hopes of Chile and Peru, who had each appealed to replace their South American rival.

Chile and Peru had argued that Ecuador used an ineligible player in eight qualifying games and should be thrown out of the World Cup.

But the CAS judges said Ecuador defender Byron Castillo was eligible by FIFA rules to play in both the qualifying campaign and at the World Cup in Qatar.

However, the judges also said Castillo was born in Colombia and that false information about his date and place of birth had been used to get an Ecuadorian passport.

CAS imposed a 100,000 Swiss francs (£88,000) fine on the Ecuador federation and ordered a three-point deduction in the South American qualifying group for the 2026 World Cup.

Additional reporting by AP.