Murder, Corruption & Drugs

Below, are excerpts from a lengthy article about money laundering, crime and sports worth reading in its entirety:

Murder, Corruption & Drugs: Colombian Football’s Own-Goal

Ten days after his own goal had eliminated his team from the 1994 World Cup, Andres Escobar was gunned down by gang members outside a nightclub. The real tragedy though, is how little it surprised followers of Colombian football.

In the early hours of Saturday, July 2nd 1994, Colombian international Andres Escobar paid his bill at Medellin’s notorious Padua disco, and left. Ten days earlier, Colombia had been eliminated from the World Cup Finals after a defeat against the USA, and Escobar’s own goal in that match had been endlessly replayed since. As he went to unlock his car, a group of men appeared, and chanted: “OWN GOAL, OWN GOAL” at him. The ringleaders were the two Gallon brothers, well known in Medellin for their connections with drug smuggling and prostitution. Normally unflappable, Escobar got angry. Awakened by the row, the Gallon brothers’ chauffeur strolled over and shouted: “What does this faggot want?” Without waiting for a reply, he fired six bullets into Escobar’s chest, screaming “OWN GOAL” each time he pulled the trigger. Escobar was left to bleed to death inside his car. Forty other people were shot dead in Medellin that night.

Leading Colombian stars had been fearful even before the tournament began. “Many of us received notes warning us what would happen if we did badly”, recalls former Colombian striker Freddy Rincon. Conspiracy theories suggested that Escobar’s murder was ordered by Colombian gambling syndicates, furious that his defensive error had cost them millions of dollars. The rumours are well wide of the mark, but the fact that many remain willing to believe them proves that Colombian football has a sinister soul.