BOGOTA – A wave of crimes against South American footballers has underscored the risks faced by players who loathe to return home from overseas clubs to a region where they, or their loved ones, risk being kidnapped, blackmailed or targeted by gangs with a message to send.
In March, family members of Angel di Maria received a note threatening their lives if he returned home to play for any club in Rosario – Argentina’s third-largest city that has recently seen an explosion in drug-related crime.
The Benfica winger, who played for big European clubs like Real Madrid, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, had earlier stated his desire to play once more for his boyhood club, Rosario Central.
Argentinian authorities said the note contained a threat from “criminal organisations” putting on a show of strength, and sources close to di Maria said he had since ruled out a return to “prioritise the safety and health of his family”.
He is now reportedly in talks to pursue a career in Major League Soccer after Portugal.
Also in Rosario, gunmen in 2023 opened fire on a shop belonging to the family of World Cup-winning Argentina captain Lionel Messi’s wife. They left a threatening message in what was also interpreted as gangs flexing their muscle.
Further north, in gang violence-torn Ecuador, forward Enner Valencia has recently abandoned plans for a return to home team Emelec from Brazil, where he is playing for Porto Alegre club Internacional.
“I would love to go to Emelec... try to help the team that gave me everything, but I would not bring my family to Ecuador,” he told an Argentinian journalist in 2023.
Valencia’s once-peaceful homeland is grappling with a shocking rise in violence and homicides as narco gangs have grown ever stronger and fight bloody turf wars.
In 2022, Valencia’s sister was taken and held hostage for more than a week near the Colombian border until she was rescued by an anti-kidnapping and anti-extortion unit of the national police.
Last October, guerrilla fighters in Colombia kidnapped the father of Liverpool footballer Luis Diaz. He was held for 12 days before being freed under pressure from the government negotiating a peace deal with the National Liberation Army guerrillas.
Extortion, a common crime perpetrated by criminal groups in Latin America, is ravaging Peru in particular.
In February, striker Paolo Guerrero became a target after signing with the club Cesar Vallejo. Soon, members of the gang Los Cachacos de Yolin began extorting his mother, Petronila Gonzales.
They were arrested, and Guerrero decided to stay on after demanding security guarantees from his new club. AFP
