Byron David Castillo Segura (born 10 November 1998) is an Ecuadorian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

club León and the Ecuador national team. Mainly a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he can also play as a winger.

Club career

Early career

Castillo began his career with Norte América, but made his debut as a senior while on loan at

Deportivo Azogues Deportivo Azogues was an Ecuadorian football club based in Azogues. It played in the Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after ...

. In May 2015, he was loaned to Emelec, but was released in July after having problems with his documentation. In January 2016, Castillo moved to

Aucas The Huaorani, Waorani, or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are an Indigenous people from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador ( Napo, Orellana, and Pastaza Provinces) who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate ...

. He made his

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

debut with the side on 7 February, starting in a 1–2 away loss against Fuerza Amarilla, and scored his first goal in the category late in the month, in a 1–1 home draw against Mushuc Runa. On 31 December, Aucas announced that he had extended his contract with the club for a further four seasons.

Barcelona SC

On 5 January 2017, Castillo was presented at

Barcelona SC Barcelona Sporting Club () is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil, known best for its professional football team. Internationally known as Barcelona de Ecuador, in Ecuador it is simply referred as Barcelona, El Idolo (BSC) or Barce. T ...

. After featuring in just one match during his first season, he started to feature more regularly from the 2018 season onwards, and became a regular starter in 2020. On 10 July 2021, Castillo signed a new contract with the club until 2025.

León

On 10 June 2022, Castillo signed for

side León.

International career

Youth

Castillo was a part of the Ecuador under-17 team that featured in both the

2015 South American U-17 Championship The 2015 South American Under-17 Football Championship ( es, Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-17 Paraguay 2015, pt-BR, Campeonato Sul-Americano Sub-17 Paraguay 2015) was the 16th edition of the biennial international youth football tournament organi ...

and the

2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the sixteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, held in Chile from 17 October to 8 November 2015. Host selection The following four countries bid to host the tournament: * * * * Venues Along with proposing ...

, being an undisputed starter for the side in both tournaments. In November 2016, he featured for the under-20s in a friendly against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Senior

On 29 August 2021, Castillo was called up to the Ecuador national team by manager

Gustavo Alfaro Gustavo Julio Alfaro (born 14 August 1962) is an Argentine football manager and former player who manages the Ecuador national football team. Although Alfaro had a short career as a footballer, he was captain of the Atlético de Rafaela, when th ...

for three 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. He made his full international debut on 2 September, starting in the 2–0 win over the former at the

Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado, commonly called ''La Casa Blanca'' (Spanish for "The White House"), is a football stadium in Quito, Ecuador that is the home ground of LDU Quito. Built between 1995 and 1997, the stadium hosted its first match on Marc ...

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

Nationality issues

In 2017, Castillo was separated from the Ecuador under-20 squad after allegations that he was born in

Tumaco Tumaco is a port city and municipality in the Nariño Department, Colombia, by the Pacific Ocean. It is located on the southwestern corner of Colombia, near the border with Ecuador, and experiences a hot tropical climate. Tumaco is inhabited mai ...

, a Colombian city near the Ecuadorian border. He was accused of adulterating his birth documentation in January 2019 and this issue kept him out of any Ecuador national team until 2021. In February 2021, an investigation started to determine if Castillo was Ecuadorian or Colombian. Finally, on 24 April of that year, his Ecuadorian nationality was confirmed. In May 2022, the

Chilean Football Federation The Football Federation of Chile ( es, Federación de Fútbol de Chile or ) is the governing body of association football, football in Chile. It was founded 19 June 1895, making it the second oldest South American association football federation, ...

submitted a complaint to

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

about Castillo's nationality, alleging that he was born in Tumaco, Colombia in July 1995. FIFA closed the investigation after nearly one month on 10 June, confirming Ecuador's spot in the World Cup. Spanish sporting newspaper ''

Marca Marca may refer to: Places * Marca, Sălaj, a commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Marca, a tributary of the Barcău in Sălaj County, Romania * an alternative name for Merca, Somalia * Marca District, in the province Recuay, Peru * Marçà, a vil ...

'' published audio that was apparently of Castillo admitting his illegitimate entry into Ecuador, as well as his birthplace in Colombia, and his correct year of birth. The recording is said to be from an interview between Castillo and the Ecuadorian football association, but was kept quiet by the federation. The paper also published both Colombian and Ecuadorian birth certificates for Castillo, illustrating discrepancies in his name, birthplace, and date of birth. FIFA's Appeals Commission has reopened the investigation and began the hearing on 15 September before making the final decision in early October, which, if proven, could lead to Ecuador being disqualified from the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

. The next day, FIFA ruled in favor of Castillo again. On 8 November 2022, the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...

ruled that Castillo was indeed born in Tumaco on 25 June 1995, but since the nationality of a player is defined by national law and Ecuador recognizes Castillo as an Ecuadorian national, he has been eligible to play for the Ecuador national team. The FEF were however, fined CHF 100,000 and handed a 3-point deduction in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers for CONMEBOL due to the use of a document which contained false information.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Barcelona SC *

Ecuadorian Serie A The Liga Pro Betcris, simply known as the Liga Pro, or the Serie A, is a professional football league in Ecuador. At the top of the Ecuadorian football league system, it is the country's premier football competition. Contested by sixteen clubs, i ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castillo, Byron 1998 births Living people People from Guayas Province Ecuadorian footballers Association football defenders Association football wingers Ecuadorian Serie A players Ecuadorian Serie B players C.S. Norte América footballers Deportivo Azogues footballers C.S. Emelec footballers S.D. Aucas footballers Barcelona S.C. footballers Liga MX players Club León footballers Ecuador international footballers Ecuadorian expatriate footballers Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Mexico Association football controversies Age controversies Nationality controversies