During the program “Un Buen Momento” on Radio La Red in Argentina, former FIFA referee Carlos Esposito made a confession about an incredible encounter with John Jairo Velasquez, “Popeye”, who was a member of the Medellin cartel and Pablo Escobar’s hitman.
The Argentine referee, who participated in the 1986 World Cup, was appointed to the second leg of the Copa Libertadores semi-final between Atletico Nacional and Danubio, on 17 May 1989, after 0-0 in the first leg. Esposito and his assistants, Juan Bava and Abel Gnecco, arrived on the day before in the capital of Antioquia and at that very moment their experience began. “We arrived in Medellin and they put us in a car to take us to the hotel. During the journey, the people that were in the car told us about the places where they had thrown the bodies of referees who had been killed for not accepting bribes”, Esposito narrated on the radio station. After arriving at the hotel, Esposito received an invitation for dinner, which he declined, but hours later, when he was in his room, he was visited by “four people with machine guns and behind them entered the famous 'Popeye', well dressed, in a suit and tie. He was carrying a suitcase and said 'here is $250,000; it’s yours, take it away'”. The former referee said that they did not accept the money offered by 'Popeye', to which he responded by closing the suitcase and stating that “your life here is worth nothing and in Buenos Aires it can cost us $1,000 each”. While leaving, they told us: 'You already know what to do'”, he added. Esposito said that, during his stay, they were watched by 'gangsters' 24 hours, to intimidate them. “It was very difficult, we never slept. We also had to change our return flight, so we can leave Medellin for Bogota the same night, right after the game”, he said. Esposito also recalled that on that trip to the Colombian capital the president of Danubio “asked me if we had had a bad time, insinuating that they too had been threatened”. “Luckily, Nacional won that game 6-0. If not, I don’t know what would have happened”, the ex-referee concluded. After advancing to the final, the Colombian team ended up winning Copa Libertadores, after beating Olimpia of Paraguay 5-4 on penalties (aggregate score 2-2).
Source: Un Buen Momento
