year's World Cup. The South American nation booked their place in Qatar by finishing fourth in their fiercely competitive qualifying section.
For a short while in September, however, it was reported they could be stripped of their place at the finals over claims they had fielded an ineligible player during qualifying.
Defender Byron Castillo played in eight of Ecuador's qualifiers, helping them secure their berth at the tournament.
But Chile and Peru, the top candidates to replace Ecuador in the tournament should they be booted out, claimed that Castillo was actually born in Colombia, and therefore should not have been allowed to play in the qualifiers as a result.
'Evidence' of cover up emerged day before appeal
The plot thickened only days before the start of the inquiry into his case when the Daily Mail reported evidence of a shocking admission from the player which had subsequently been covered up by the Ecuador Football Federation [FEF].
The recording was obtained from a formal interview which took place four years ago between the head of the FEF's Investigative Commission and Castillo.
, 'on the basis of the documents presented, the player was to be considered as holding permanent Ecuadorian nationality,' thus freeing him - and the Ecuadorian national team - to play in the World Cup.
