The sports world is in mourning after the murder of Argentine soccer player Facundo Espíndola during an altercation with a colleague

The Latin American sport has been characterized by nourishing of excellent competitors to the world in the different disciplines and existing categories. However, this pride has been stained in some occasions by athletes who have committed serious crimes. In Argentina, the most recent case occurred in which a Latin American athlete was involved in a murder.

Leer en español: Terrible desenlace en Argentina: Otro caso de violencia en el deporte

A fight between soccer players with a terrible outcome

In the early hours of Sunday, July 22, 25-year-old Argentinian keeper Facundo Espíndola was killed after a fight with two people outside a bar in Buenos Aires. One of the alleged aggressors is Nahuel Alejandro Oviedo Betancourt, an Argentine footballer who currently plays for San Telmo in the third category of Argentine soccer. "Oviedo got on a white Peugeot 308 and escaped from the area, but minutes later he was arrested at Villa Tesei," said Olé from Argentina.

Thus they assassinated Facundo Espíndola (24), former goalkeeper of Almagro. One of the detainees is Nahuel Oviedo (28), striker of San Telmo. It was early morning in Hurlingham at the exit of a bowling alley. pic.twitter.com/E6m9jtgJcD

– A24.com (@ A24COM) July 22, 2018

Oviedo is detained along with the person accompanying him and they are accused of simple homicide. However, this is not the first time that Oviedo has problems with the justice. "He already had a criminal record, because in 2011 he was sentenced to three years in suspense for stealing in a house, and in 2013 he was arrested for attacking a policewoman," Olé said.

Several people witnessed the brutal fight and the police, after arresting Oviedo and his companion, of Paraguayan origin, found more evidence of the crime. "The police found blood stains inside the vehicle, while hours later the murder weapon was found about fifteen blocks from the bar," explained the Sport media. It is a tragedy that brings grief to the Latin American sport once again because it is not the first time that an athlete is involved in a murder.

Edwin Valero, a fierce boxer

Edwin Valero is one of the Latin American athletes who committed a terrible crime. Valero was a Venezuelan athlete born in 1981, but as time goes by and with the aftermath of an accident that affected his brain, his mental conditions deteriorated greatly. "A doctor in New York, Barry Jordan, declared him unfit to box. A car accident in 2001 left him with a brain injury that the New York Athletic Commission considered sufficient to prevent him from fighting in the state," said Marca.

His instability and coarse personality led him to have up to 40 arrests, including for beating his mother and his wife whom he murdered in 2010. Valero confessed to the murder and was arrested by the police, but two days after committing the crime he committed suicide. "With his own trousers tied to a beam and his neck, the boxer put an end to a life surrounded by conflicts with alcohol, drugs, sports glory and his deep love for Hugo Chávez (former president of Venezuela)," Infobae informed.

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Carlos Monzón, from great hero to an infamous character

The Gaucho de Hierro, as Carlos Monzón was named for being one of the greatest Latin American fighters in history, went from being an example to being a dishonorable character. Monzón, born in 1942, reaped several sports successes, but a fatal event brought to light his personality. In 1988, Monzón murdered his wife in Mar del Plata.

According to the Clarín, Monzón said at the trial the following words: "I hit all my partners and nothing ever happened", which showed a deformed mentality. Monzón was sentenced to 11 years in prison, but his reputation was damaged. "The life of Monzón came to an end on January 8, 1995, when, with his sentence almost fulfilled, he made a temporary exit to go to work and died in a rollover with his car," said the Argentine newspaper.

There are other transcendental cases of Latin American athletes, such as that of Bruno Fernandes, a Brazilian soccer player who in 2013 ordered the murder of his ex-girlfriend, as CNN reported in Spanish. These terrible events not only brings grief to the families of the victims but also to the sport and to all Latin America.

LatinAmerican Post | Javier Aldana

Translated from "Terrible desenlace en Argentina: Otro caso de violencia en el deporte"