Colombian midfielder Jaminton Campaz refused to fly home with his teammates after facing death threats over a missed chance against Switzerland in the World Cup Round of 16. He has since gone into hiding out of concern for his safety.
Campaz came on as a substitute for Colombia and went on to miss a big one-on-one chance in extra time to put Colombia into the quarter-final. Colombia went ahead to lose the match on penalties, ending their World Cup run.
His social media handle was flooded with abuse and threats against him and his family, forcing him to disable comments. This event draws painful comparisons to the 1994 killing of Andrés Escobar, murdered days after an own goal at that year’s World Cup.
The Colombian football federation has since condemned the threats and called the attorney general to investigate the matter.
