El Nacional
Since its establishment in 1964, one of the best Ecuadorian clubs, El Nacional, has been led by the Ecuadorian army. This continued until 2013 when the first elections were held in which fans elected new club leadership. Although the leadership in the club has changed, the transfer policy has remained the same. Only players from Ecuador can still play for the club.
However, during 2016 and 2017, an incident occurred. Or, rather, about 40 of them. Namely, that’s approximately the number of games Rinson López played for El Nacional. This Colombian right-back forged documents in his younger years to play professional football in Ecuador. His football journey brought him to El Nacional in 2016. He later admitted what he had done and the club immediately terminated his contract, and López received a six-month ban from playing.
The club, which is one of the most successful in Ecuador, won its last title back in 2006. A crisis of results also led to relegation from the Ecuadorian Serie A in 2020, so at the time of writing this text, they are in the second league. With 13 titles, they are the third most successful club in the country, and they can boast that they have participated in the Copa Libertadores 22 times, more than any other Ecuadorian club.
