Police and lawyers met Enner Valencia after an Ecuador training session over an alleged sum of £13,500 owed in child maintenance.
The striker currently on loan at Everton was being put through his paces with the national side ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Chile.
Lawyers arrived at the session with the intention of detaining the player at Atahualpa Stadium in Quito.
They were in possession of a judicial order and represented the mother of Valencia's five-year-old daughter.