Did Colombian Football Team Throw Their Match? Game Leads To Death Threats, Presidential Investigation

Last week, Llaneros Football Club played Union Magdalena SA for a chance to move up to the top league. A win would be enough to promote Magdalena, but Llaneros needed a win and five goals because of the goal difference. It seemed like Llaneros would win after taking a late lead, but fell after conceding two goals in six minutes of extra time. One of the goals saw a Magdalena player score nearly unchallenged. Following the game, Llaneros and its’ players received criticism for throwing the match from fans, announcers and even the president of Colombia, Iván Duque. The president of the Colombian professional football league is opening an investigation.

Jorge Duván Mosquera, one of the Llaneros defenders who appeared to stop trying, released a video on social media.

“We fear for our own lives: me and my teammates are scared to go out,” Mosquera said. “We fear something might happen to us on the street.”

The situation is reminiscent of the 1990s and another football scandal in Colombia. Athletes received death threats from drug cartels who had sway in Colombian professional football. Colombia lost 2-1 to the U.S. in the World Cup. Colombian football player Andrés Escobar was shot at a nightclub just days following the loss, seemingly for scoring Colombia’s lone goal.

Llaneros coach Walter Aristizábal also denies throwing the match and offers a different perspective on the loss.

“We compete at the highest level, created lots of opportunities that we did not take advantage of,” Aristizábal said. “For us, what was fatal was the minute when they scored and drew with us. 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.”