Kennedy, Paul:
I’m hoping that by the time this piece is published, Liverpool FC’s Luiz Diaz will have received the finest news conceivable.
On October 29, Daz’s mother, Cilenis Marulanda, and father, Luis Manuel “Mane” Diaz, were kidnapped at a gas station in Barrancas, Colombia, by armed me𝚗 on motorcycles.
A day later, authorities recovered his mother, and a “major military search” was launched to find his father.
The culprits, Colombia’s National Liberation Army, the ELN, are said to be extremely close to releasing Mane, possibly within the next 48 hours.
Diaz has remained in training with Liverpool after being unable to travel to Colombia due to evident safety concerns. On Sunday, he even played, albeit just for the final 15 minutes of their 1-1 tie against Luton, with Diaz scoring his team’s equalizer.
If the Premier League has a bravery award, surely it can only go to one player.
How could he be strong enough to make the squad, play, and score a crucial goal without knowing what had happened to his father?
After scoring, he lifted his Liverpool jersey to reveаl a statement on the tee shirt he was wearing underneath that read: ‘LIBERTAD PARA PAPA,’ which translates as “FREE MY DAD.”
I can’t even comprehend what he’s going through, and this isn’t the first time a player has had to deal with what Diaz is dealing with right now.
Carlos Tevez, the Argentine forward, had to deal with his father’s kidnapping in 2014.
Romario’s father, a great Brazilian athlete, was kidnapped for a day in 1994 before being rescued in a police raid.
Diego and Gabriel Milito, brothers from Argentina, had to contend with their father’s kidnapping in 2002. Both participants were required to pay the ransom.
Another Argentine, Daniel Montenegro, was kidnapped in Buenos Aires. He was released unharmed after several hours of misunderstanding.
The great Real Madrid star Alfredo Di Stefano was kidnapped while on tour in South America with his club. For more than 72 hours, the Venezuelan Armed Forces were unable to liberate him.
The father of Mexican goalkeeper Jorge Campos was kidnapped for more than ten days in 1999.
Ruben Omar Romano, a former Cruz Azul coach, was kidnapped for 65 days. When the incident occurred on July 19, 2005, the FBI was called in to assist in his release.
Only this week, in the aftermath of Mane Diaz’s kidnapping, former Chelsea star John Obi Mikel revealed that his father was kidnapped twice.
It’s insаne.
With the exception of John Obi Mikel, all of the above are tied to South America. Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina are among the countries involved.
South America has a reputation for producing the world’s top footballers, and I hope the authorities in these nations can get a grip and do more to safeguard their families.
