ECUADORIAN footballer Jonathan Gonzalez was murdered on Friday, marking the third killing of a professional player in the country during September alone.
The 31-year-old midfielder, known by the nickname “Speedy” Gonzalez, sustained fatal gunshot wounds during an attack inside a residence in Esmeraldas province.
Police confirmed the coastal region bordering Colombia suffers from intense rival drug gang activity but provided no specific motive for the killing.
A second unidentified victim also died while being transported to hospital for emergency treatment.
Ecuador sits between the world’s largest cocaine producers Colombia and Peru and now serves as the departure point for 70% of global drug shipments.
The homicide rate has skyrocketed from six per 100,000 people in 2018 to a record 47 in 2023 before slightly decreasing to 38 last year.
Two players from second-division club Exapromo Costa FC, Maicol Valencia and Leandro Yepez, were shot during an armed assault in Manta on September 10.
Valencia died immediately in the gunfire while Yepez succumbed to his injuries two days later in hospital.
Their club stated the players were unintended victims of an attack targeting someone else.
Gonzalez previously played for Olimpia in Paraguay and Leon in Mexico before joining second-division side 22 de Julio FC.
The Ecuadorian Football Federation and domestic clubs have expressed their condolences to the footballer’s grieving family. – AFP