Ecuador will be able to participate in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced on Tuesday, but the South American team will have to begin the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) qualifying tournament for the 2026 World Cup with three points fewer than other competitors.

Ecuador secured qualification for Qatar 2022 as the fourth seed from CONMEBOL. Chile, which ranked seventh in the tournament and missed the World Cup, complained to CAS that Byron Castillo, who appeared in eight of Ecuador's qualifiers, including two against Chile, was not eligible to play.

Ecuador said Castillo was born in General Villamil Playas in 1998, but Chile claimed that he was born in Tumaco, Colombia, in 1995. "Since the nationality of a player with a national association is determined by national laws (subject to time limits in case of a change of sporting nationality, which was not the case here), Byron Castillo was eligible to play ... in the preliminary round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022," CAS said.

However, since there was false information in the document provided by the Ecuadorean Football Federation (FEF), which violated Article 21 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, Ecuador will receive a punishment of three-point reduction in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and a fine of 100,000 Swiss Francs (about $101,605).

"While the player's Ecuadorean passport was indeed authentic, some information provided therein was false. In particular, the panel was comfortably satisfied that the player's date and place of birth were incorrect since the player was actually born in Tumaco, Colombia, on 25 June 1995. The panel deemed it necessary to hold the FEF liable for an act of falsification... even if the FEF was not the author of the falsified document but only the user," CAS said.

Ecuador are in Group A with the host Qatar, Senegal and the Netherlands in the coming World Cup that will begin on November 20. Ecuador will face Qatar in the opener of the tournament at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor. The game was originally scheduled to happen on November 21, but moved forward by one day.

"I have one day less of preparation," Gustavo Alfaro, manager of Ecuador, said on Tuesday. "We were overtaken. We were not consulted if there was any problem in bringing forward the match from the 21st to the 20th."

"Now, I don't want an advantage, but I do want the same rights as everyone else. The others have seven days and I have six. Why do I have six? Why didn't they give me a day before [to work with the squad]?" Alfaro added.