The 33-year-old defender was the victim of an armed attack carried out by hitmen in broad daylight in the Samanes neighborhood, Guayaquil
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Ecuadorian soccer is going through hours of deep pain after the murder of Mario Pineida, a player for Barcelona SC, which took place this Wednesday in broad daylight in the Samanes neighborhood, in the north of Guayaquil. The 33-year-old defender was the victim of an armed attack carried out by hitmen, and the news caused an immediate shock not only in Ecuador but throughout the continent.
The incident occurred around 4 p.m. on the exterior of a butcher shop, where Pineida was together with his partner and his mother. The three were caught off guard by a shooting and were hit by multiple gunshots, collapsing on the spot. As the hours went by, it was confirmed that the player's partner also died, while his mother was injured. The identification of the player was carried out by a police officer, according to local media such as Ecuavisa.
Pineida y su pareja fueron asesinados afuera de una carnicería
Hours later, the club officially confirmed the death of its player through a statement in which it expressed its "deep sorrow" over the death after the attack. "This unfortunate news leaves all of us who are part of the institution deeply dismayed, and puts us in mourning as the Barcelona family," the institution stated, which also announced that in the coming hours it will report on the farewell ceremonies and asked people to accompany the family with prayers.
The news comes in a sensitive context, since hours earlier the president of Barcelona, Antonio Álvarez, had revealed in a public letter that a player on the squad had requested special protection after receiving death threats, although without mentioning names. That detail became relevant again after the confirmation of the crime.
Pineida developed a distinguished career in Ecuadorian soccer. He came through at Panamá SC and then played for Independiente del Valle, Barcelona (where he was league champion in 2016 and 2020), and El Nacional, with which he won the Ecuador Cup in 2024. He also had an international experience at Fluminense, on loan in 2022, a season in which he was crowned champion of the Campeonato Carioca.
Uno de los posteos del Barcelona en memoria de Pineida
At international level, Pineida played between eight and ten matches with Ecuador's senior national team and was part of the squads for the 2015 and 2021 Copa América tournaments. In addition, he was part of the youth national teams and took part in the 2011 Under-20 World Cup in Colombia. During his time in continental competitions, he was involved in a memorable incident in 2021, when he collided unintentionally with Miguel Ángel Russo, then Boca's coach, in a Copa Libertadores match.
Mario Pineida's death once again starkly exposes a problem that goes beyond sports and that keeps an entire country on edge, while Ecuadorian soccer bids farewell to one of its players amid shock and grief.
The other cases of players murdered in 2025
Meanwhile, Pineida's murder adds to a worrying string of violent incidents that have hit Ecuadorian soccer in recent months. In November, Miguel Nazareno, a promising player for Independiente del Valle who was just 16 years old, died after a violent incident at his home in Guayaquil.
In September, Jonathan González, a former player for Independiente del Valle and Liga de Quito, was murdered in Esmeraldas, and days earlier Maicol Valencia and Leandro Yépez had also been shot and killed, players for Exapromo Costa, a second-division team.
