Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Sep 11, 2026

Colombian football player receiving death threats over controversial match

Colombian football player receiving death threats over controversial match

A Colombian football player announced he and his teammates have received death threats following a controversial match in Colombia on Saturday.

The match in question, between Llaneros Football Club and Union Magdalena SA, saw Llaneros concede two goals in extra time, resulting in the start of a match-fixing investigation against the club after it was accused by fans and even the country's president of throwing the match.

In a 30-second video posted on social media on Tuesday, Jorge Duván Mosquera, a Llaneros defender, addressed his comments to president Iván Duque himself, saying: "We fear for our own lives: me and my teammates are scared to go out, we fear something might happen to us on the street."

Following Mosquera's video, Llaneros FC confirmed in a public statement that some of its players had received death threats, announcing the club contacted the police and hired a law firm to assist its players.

The incident is spilling out as of one of Colombia's largest sports scandals in recent history. On Saturday, Llaneros were playing against the Union Magdalena SA in the final match of the Colombian second division.

Victory for Magdalena would result in promotion to the top league next year, while Llaneros had to score five goals to be promoted due to goal difference.

After taking a late lead with an 80th minute goal, Llaneros seemed destined to win the match, but during six minutes of extra time, they conceded two goals which resulted in a Magdalena victory and subsequent promotion.

In the second of those two goals, however, the Llaneros defensive line allegedly appears to play half-heartedly and lets Magdalena's striker score almost unchallenged.

Mosquera is one of the players who seemed to stop playing; in front of his team's goal, he can be seen watching without trying to defend the last-minute goal.

The outcome of the match drew criticism right at the final whistle, with the official broadcast commentator criticizing the Llaneros and calling the match "a real shame."

The critiques only mounted when the president of the Colombian professional football league announced the opening of a formal investigation on the match.

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

Duque himself joined the criticism late on Sunday night, tweeting: "What happened in the promotion game [...] is a national shame. Sport requires transparency, honesty and zero tolerance facing any situation that delegitimizes ethics."

Colombian President Iván Duque joined criticism of the Llaneros - Magdalena match, tweeting that the events were "a national shame."


In his video, Mosquera personally called Duque out, saying: "Mr. President, we are not corrupt. Perhaps, you might hold your minister accountable the same way you are accusing us now," in a reference to a separate scandal which saw Duque's Minister for Technology leave her post among allegations of embezzlement earlier this year.

Llaneros coach Walter Aristizábal adamantly denied the accusations in a press conference after the game, saying, "We reject all the accusations and allegations of acts of corruption and match-fixing that surfaced on social media, our sports results are testament of the good work and intention of our institution."

Aristizábal also suggested that the players might have been influenced by the fact that promotion was out of reach for Llaneros. "We compete at the highest level, created lots of opportunities that we did not take advantage of. For us, what was fatal was the minute when they scored and drew with us," Aristizábal said.

"I insist that the emotional part is difficult to handle, when they scored, we'd have to score five more to overturn the result, and what can we do with that? We are now focused to prepare the next league and fight for promotion next year."

The situation echoes one of the darkest eras of Colombian football: in the 1990s, several players received death threats following bad performances on the pitch, often at the hands of criminal drug cartels that were involved in Colombian professional football.

Andrés Escobar, seen here on the ground during Colombia's 2-1 loss to the US in the 1994 World Cup, was shot dead in his home town of Medellin just days after his own goal contributed to the Cafeteros' defeat.


In 1994, Colombian football player Andrés Escobar was shot at a night club in Medellin just five days after the Colombian national team was booted out of the World Cup in a 2-1 defeat against the United States due to an Escobar own goal.

The murder was widely believed to be a punishment for the own goal, and for years, it tarnished the image of Colombian football abroad.

In their statement on Tuesday, Llaneros wrote: "The sports world and Colombian football cannot forget that in the 1990s the lives of important Colombian players were impacted in similar situations; we call for calm and to let the competent authorities resolve this issue."

On Monday, Magdalena, the team which benefited from the match result, published a statement claiming the club's conduct is clean and that the match against Llaneros was a fair game.

The Colombian professional league announced the result of the match would stand pending an investigation, and that Magdalena would be invited to join the top league next year.

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

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Merz Rebukes AfD Expansion in Saxony-Anhalt
OpenAI Unveils GPT-6 and Says: "We May Already Have Reached AGI"
Congressman Accused Andrew of Sex Crimes in the United States
Donald Trump: "I'm Glad Harry and Meghan Left the United States"
Spicy Food Is Linked to Lower Death Risk — but It Is Not a Miracle Cure
AfD Enters Saxony-Anhalt Election at 41% in Historic Test for German Politics
Gen Z Turns to Investing as America's First-Home Dream Moves Further Out of Reach
TSA Unveils Major Airport-Security Overhaul as It Drops Gold+ Privatization Plan
CIA Chief Warned Russia Against Attacking NATO in Secret Moscow Mission
Raheem Sterling Charged With Dangerous Driving After Lamborghini Crash
The Secret Dolly Parton Kept Until Her Death: "She Was Much Sicker Than She Let On"
Glacier Collapse, Not Earthquake, Triggered Deadly Nepal-Tibet Flood
Turnbull Warns AUKUS Could Leave Australia Without Promised Nuclear Submarines
California Billionaires Pour More Than $150 Million Into Fight Over Proposed Wealth Tax
German Broadcaster Goes Dark to Warn AfD Could End Its Saxony-Anhalt Service
Badenoch Plans Major Shadow Cabinet Reshuffle as Tories Struggle in Third Place
Prime Minister Andy Burnham to Give Ukraine Classified Storm Shadow Blueprints for Domestic Missile Production
UK Graduate Job Vacancies Plunge 45% to Lowest Levels on Record
Iranian Hackers Shut Down British Power Plant for Four Days in Landmark Cyber Attack
Novak Djokovic Reveals Relentless Self-Doubt and Rejects Retirement in New Documentary
Trump Imposes 50% Tariffs on Canadian Goods After Bilateral Trade Talks Collapse
Australia Combines Indigenous Fire Knowledge With Satellite Tech to Combat Catastrophic Wildfires
Father and Son Jailed in Scotland Over £900,000 Airport Cannabis Smuggling Operation
UK Fraud Reports Surge Sevenfold as Criminals Exploit QR Codes in Parking Meters and Phishing Emails
Brighton Thrash Aston Villa in Four-Goal Opening Half as Manchester City Trail Bournemouth
Erin Patterson Appeals Triple Murder Convictions After Hotel Mixed Sequestered Jury With Prosecution
The rise and fall of Hui Ka Yan, China’s richest man
Woke: Britain Considers Plain Packaging for Cigars as Specialist Shops Warn of Industry Collapse
Britain's Public-Service Productivity Remains Below 2019 as £80 Billion Output Gap Fuels WFH Debate
Mandelson Epstein Case in Jeopardy as U.S. Files Stay Out of Reach
Prince Harry and Six Others Ordered to Pay £9.5 Million After High Court Defeat
Petrol Bombs Set Luxury Cars Alight Outside Birmingham Wedding as Police Hunt Three Men
Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Ignite Crypto Rally
Twenty-Nine US States Take Meta to Trial Over Alleged Child Addiction on Instagram and Facebook
Former Scottish National Party Executive Peter Murrell Jailed for Five Years Over £400,000 Embezzlement
Moderna and Merck's Personalized Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Historic Late-Stage Melanoma Trial
Prince Harry and Meghan to Move Back to Britain With Their Children
England and Wales Have Fewer Than 1,800 Prison Places Left for Men
Suspected People Smuggler Arrested After Investigation Identified Him
Children's Doctors Warn That Vaping Can Lead Young People to Smoking
Hundreds of Thousands of Students Receive GCSE and Vocational Results Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Here Is What Can Never Happen in Your Country: Taiwan Is Giving Money to All Its People Because It Collected Too Much Tax
UK Inflation Rises to 2.9% as Energy Bills Jump
UK Issues New Conduct Guide for Asylum Seekers on Consent and Respect
A Sleepless Night on Wall Street: Nasdaq to Begin Nearly Round-the-Clock Trading
"The First in the World": 69-Year-Old Protested Artificial Intelligence—and Went to Jail
Ukraine's Ousted Defence Minister Calls for Wartime Presidential Election
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
×