Guabirá and its goalkeeper Juan Manuel Ferrel filed a criminal complaint with Bolivia’s Public Prosecutor’s Office after the goalkeeper, according to his coach Leonardo Égüez, received death threats linked to demands that he pay money or allow his opponent to score at least three goals in a Bolivian professional league match.
Guabirá defeat exposes threats against goalkeeper
The complaint followed Guabirá’s 6-0 defeat away to Always Ready in a match played Sunday at the Villa Ingenio Municipal Stadium in the city of El Alto. Ferrel conceded three goals in the first 35 minutes before asking to be substituted shortly before halftime, while he was seen crying alongside teammate Víctor Abrego. Égüez said at a post-match news conference that the threats targeted the lives of the goalkeeper, his wife and his mother.
The Bolivian Football Federation and the Public Prosecutor’s Office called for an urgent investigation, saying an organized criminal group might be involved. Guabirá president Rafael Paz confirmed that the club and Ferrel had formally filed the complaint and called for an investigation to establish the circumstances of the threats and identify those responsible.
