Narco Soccer

Narco Soccer

The #1 sport worldwide is soccer and it’s been like that for decades. Has anyone ever stopped to think where the money comes from or how teams become successful almost instantly? What most fail to realize is that there’s also a business side to the sport. Whether it’s dealt over or under the table will be unknown but that wasn’t the case for Columbia and Pablo Escobar.

Pablo “El Patron” Escobar was born in 1949 in Columbia. His father was a farmer and mother was an elementary school teacher. During his teenage years Pablo quickly became part of the streets and began stealing cars and selling marijuana. During the 1970’s, Pablo learned the path to power and wealth; drugs. He took charge of a local drug organization after giving orders to kill the drug lord. Pablo decided to expand and start smuggling Cocaine into the U.S. (http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/20thcenturylatinamerica/a/bioescobar.htm) Pablo Escobar was responsible for more than half of the crime in Medellin, Columbia. The Columbian government knew of Pablo’s actions but were bought off.

Pablo had always been interested in soccer and become the owner of two Columbian teams to make his money legal. Money Laundering was the term to describe his actions. He would "launder” money to appear as if it came from a legitimate source. Unlike the other cartels, Pablo made sure that he had a relationship with his players and would invite them to his ranch for “bonuses” after winning championships. Columbian soccer had never looked this great They finally had enough money to keep their players or buy foreign players. World Cup Qualifiers was just around the corner. Columbia had a solid team under the lead of Andres Escobar which would beat Argentina to advance to the World Cup.

Up north, the U.S. had closely been connecting the dots between soccer and Pablo Escobar and felt like it was their duty to get involved. The people of Columbia would exercise the strategy of “Speak No Evil, See No Evil.” It’s not that the whole country didn’t know what was going on but that they were more focused on the sport. Who could blame them? Pablo Escobar always gave back to the people. Most specifically the poor. He built soccer fields, homes, and schools.

Pablo Escobar was on the run and everybody was against him. Pablo eventually turned himself in after the extradition treaty was no longer in effect. After spending a year behind bars, Pablo Escobar escaped after a failed attempt to relocate him to the U.S. Pablo was on the run again and his family was being put on the line this time. Pablo was tracked down and killed on a rooftop trying to escape. (http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/23/world/colombian-drug-baron-escapes-luxurious-prison-after-gunfight.html) The biggest drug lord had finally been taken down and the government believed crime would end.

The 1994 World Cup was hosted by the U.S. and Columbia was seen as a big contender. After losing to Romania the first game, Columbia would face the U.S. Columbia had received death threats from anonymous callers demanding to sit out key players. No game was worth risking player’s lives so the orders were followed. The game had to be played but no one predicted what would happen next. The captain, Andres Escobar scored an own goal that made them pack and go home. It was an honest mistake that could have happened to anyone but Andres felt like it was his duty to face the country. He went out one night even after everyone said to stay home and got into an argument with the wrong people who provoked him. That night, Andres Escobar was murdered. It made national news. It was clear that this was no accident. The government was paid off to say that Andres’ bodyguard was the killer but everyone knew that wasn’t true. If Pablo Escobar would have been alive there’s almost no way this would have gone down due to the friendship with Andres.

The Columbian teammates did nothing more than retire because it wasn’t worth putting their lives. Soccer showed a glimpse that Columbia was more than just about drugs and violence but ultimately it failed to get passed it. Columbian soccer was at an all-time high due to narcotic money but since then has not achieved anything.