QUITO (AP) – Ecuadorian police have arrested two suspects in the murder of a soccer player. Mario PineidaHe was shot this week, killing his partner and injuring his mother, highlighting the escalating violence in the Andean nation.
The 33-year-old Barcelona de Guayaquil defender and former national soccer player was shot dead on Wednesday. Since then, Latin American soccer clubs and fans have mourned his death.
The Ecuadorian Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on Friday that Cristian PG and Jimnery PB appeared before a judge who ordered so-called preventive arrests based on the judge’s understanding that there was sufficient evidence against them and that they were at risk of fleeing from justice.
Police said the shooting occurred in Samanes, a northern district of the coastal city of Guayaquil, about 265 kilometers southwest of the capital Quito.
Security camera footage from the scene shows Pineida and his partner coming out of the butcher shop and being shot by two men wearing motorcycle helmets and hats. Local authorities have not released the name of Pineida’s partner.
Pineida played eight games for Ecuador, but was not included in the squad that qualified for the 2026 World Cup. His last match for Ecuador was in the 2021 Copa America, where he came on as a late substitute. Group stage game against Brazil. He also participated in the 2017 edition.
In November, a 16-year-old soccer player for Independiente del Valle was killed by a stray bullet, also in Guayaquil. Two months earlier, Exapromo Costa’s Maicol Valencia and Leandro Yepes, and 22 de Junio’s Jonathan González were killed by gunfire.
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