What was supposed to be just another day of Bolivian football ended up wrapped in a report of extreme seriousness. Always Ready thrashed Guabirá 6-0 in the 19th round of the championship, but the result was overshadowed by the accusations made after the match by the coaching staff and several players from the Montero team.
Leonardo Egüez, coach of Guabirá, revealed in a press conference that goalkeeper Manuel Ferrel had received death threats before the match, directed also against his wife and his mother. "The ball has been stained, it is stained. My goalkeeper was threatened with death, his wife, his mother. If he didn't pay a certain amount or if he didn't concede three goals, they said they were going to kill them," Egüez denounced, accompanied by members of the squad.
This situation of extradeportive pressure was reflected in the first half. Always Ready scored three goals in just 35 minutes, with a brace from Argentine Enrique Triverio and another from his compatriot Joel Amoroso. Moments after the Millonario scored, Ferrel ended up being substituted and was replaced by Jorge Araúz, who immediately suffered the 4-0, credited to Javier Uzeda.
Egüez insisted that he does not know who might be behind the alleged intimidation and clarified that the complaint was not directed against Always Ready. He also called for the intervention of the authorities to determine responsibilities. "This needs to be investigated, those who need to fall must fall,” he stated.
The coach also raised the request to the sports and judicial bodies of Bolivia. "We are here to stand up, to show our faces because our prestige is at stake, our name, our institution, there is a city involved. This cannot continue, we need to cut this mafia, please president of the Republic, president of the FBF, Prosecutor's Office, imprison whoever needs to be imprisoned, but this cannot happen," he expressed.
