Colombia Forward Campaz Receives Death Threats After World Cup Exit

Dragon Media News Desk

Colombia forward Jaminton Campaz and his family have received death threats following the national team’s elimination from the FIFA World Cup.

The Colombian Football Federation strongly condemned the threats in a statement issued on Friday, saying that no player or their family members should be subjected to intimidation for representing the country.

Colombia’s World Cup campaign ended on Tuesday after the team lost 4–3 to Switzerland in a penalty shootout in the round of 16. The match had ended goalless after regulation and extra time.

Campaz, who plays for Argentine club Rosario Central, missed a crucial scoring opportunity during extra time when his shot went wide of the goal. However, he successfully converted his attempt during the penalty shootout.

Following the match, Campaz shared a photograph on Instagram showing him covering his face in disappointment and appealed for respect and restraint.

“Football also has difficult moments. My Colombia, please, we must never lose respect,” he wrote. “We may think differently and feel disappointed or saddened, but no impulse gives anyone the right to spread hatred or force another person to live in fear.”

The Colombian Football Federation expressed solidarity with Campaz, his family, the national team players and the entire delegation.

It also urged the Attorney General’s Office to intensify its investigation, identify those responsible for issuing the threats and initiate legal action against them.

The federation said football should serve as a source of unity, respect and hope, stressing that defeat or disappointment in sport must never become a cause of hatred, fear or violence in real life.

The incident has also revived memories of a tragic chapter in Colombian football history. During the 1994 World Cup, defender Andres Escobar scored an own goal in Colombia’s 2–1 defeat to the United States.

Several days after Colombia were eliminated from the tournament, Escobar was shot dead in Medellin after returning home.

Although differing accounts remain over whether his killing was directly linked to the own goal, the case is widely remembered as one of the most tragic examples of hatred and violence directed at a football player.