Colombian footballer receives death threats after controversial match between Llaneros vs. Union Magdalena

(CNN) – A Colombian soccer player announced that he and his teammates received death threats following a controversial soccer match in Colombia on Saturday, December 4.

In the match in question, between Llaneros Fútbol Club and Unión Magdalena, the Llaneros team conceded two goals in overtime and in this way the other team rose to category A of Colombian soccer. The game’s scoreboard resulted in the start of a match-fixing investigation against Llaneros after he was accused by fans and even the president of Colombia of fixing the match.

In a 30-second video posted on social media this Tuesday, Jorge Duván Mosquera, Llaneros defender, addressed his comments to President Iván Duque himself, saying: “We fear for our lives: my colleagues … we are already afraid to go out because something might happen to us on the streets. “

Following the Mosquera video, Llaneros FC confirmed in a public statement that some of its players had received death threats and announced that the club contacted the Police and hired a law firm to help its players.

This was the controversial match in Colombian soccer

The incident extends as one of Colombia’s largest sports scandals in recent history. On Saturday, the Llaneros played Unión Magdalena in the final match of group b in the Colombian second division.

Unión Magdalena’s victory would result in promotion to the top flight next year. Llaneros, meanwhile, had to score five goals to move up on goal difference.

After taking the lead with a goal in the 80th minute, Llaneros seemed destined to win the game, but during the six minutes of overtime Unión Magdalena scored two goals that gave him victory and his subsequent promotion in the category.

In the second of those two goals, however, Llaneros’ defensive line apparently seems to do nothing and let the Unión Magdalena striker score almost unopposed.

Mosquera is one of the players who appears at that moment of the game without apparently defending; in front of his team’s goal, he can be seen watching without trying to defend the goal at the last minute.

The match’s result drew criticism right at the final whistle, and the broadcast’s official commentator criticized the Llaneros, calling the match “a real disgrace.”

Criticism only increased when the president of the Colombian professional soccer league announced the opening of a formal investigation into the match.

Allegations of match fixing and sports fraud erupted over the weekend in the Colombian media, and current and retired Colombian footballers, including Juventus midfielder Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, criticized the goal.

President Iván Duque himself joined in the criticism late Sunday night, tweeting: “What happened in the promotion match to the First Division of Colombian Soccer is a national shame. Sport requires transparency, honesty and zero tolerance for any situation that delegitimizes sports ethics.”

In his video, Mosquera personally called Duque, saying: “Mr. President, we are not corrupt. I wish, as he came out against us, he would have come out against his minister,” he said in a reference to a separate scandal with which Duque’s Minister of Technology, Karen Abudinen, left her post over allegations of embezzlement in early 2021.

Llaneros’ coach Walter Aristizábal flatly denied the allegations in a post-match press conference, saying: “We reject all allegations of corruption and match-fixing that surfaced on social media, our sports results are testament to the good work and intention of our institution “.

Aristizábal also suggested that players may have been influenced by the fact that the promotion was out of Llaneros’ reach. “We compete at the highest level, we generate many opportunities that we do not take advantage of. The fatal thing for us was the minute they scored and tied with us, ”said Aristizábal.

“I insist that the emotional part is difficult to handle, when they scored we would have to score five more to reverse the result, and what can we do with that? Now we are focused on preparing for the next league and fighting for promotion next year.”

Other scandals in Colombian soccer

The situation is reminiscent of one of the darkest times in Colombian soccer: in the 1990s, several players received death threats for poor performances on the field, often at the hands of criminal drug cartels that were involved in Colombian professional soccer. .

In 1994, the Colombian footballer Andrés Escobar was shot at a Medellín nightclub just five days after the Colombian team was expelled from the Soccer World Cup in a 2-1 loss to the United States by Escobar’s own goal.

The murder was generally believed to be punishment for an own goal and, for years, tarnished the image of Colombian soccer abroad.

In his statement this Tuesday, Llaneros wrote: “The sports world and Colombian soccer cannot forget that in the 90s the lives of important Colombian players with similar situations were overshadowed, so we call for prudence so that the competent authorities (those that) resolve this situation”.

On Monday, Unión Magdalena, the team that benefited from the result of the match, published a statement in which he affirms that the conduct of the club is clean and that the match against Llaneros was a fair game.

The Colombian professional league announced that the outcome of the match would be pending investigation and that Unión Magdalena would be invited to join the main league next year.

In a statement to CNN, a spokesman for President Duque said the presidency would not comment on the Mosquera video.