"They told me that I will not escape alive if Comerciantes Unidos will lose the game", confessed referee Michael Espinoza, who suspended the match between Comerciantes Unidos and Ayacucho FC.
Details of the aggression suffered by Michael Espinoza that forced him to suspend the game between Comerciantes Unidos and Ayacucho FC were revealed. The referee told RPP that he was threatened with death by two individuals who faced him in the dressing rooms of the Carlos Olivares de Guadalupe stadium. "It was the first time it happened to me. While going out from the dressing room to start the second half, a person approached me, blocked my way and threatened me. He told me that I will not escape alive if Comerciantes Unidos will lose the game”, said Espinoza. The referee pointed out that the match commissioner, Alberto Castillo, as well as the president of Comerciantes Unidos, Aníbal Pedraza, asked him to continue with the match despite what happened: "The president of the local club came to my dressing room to ask that the game be resumed. Then, within minutes, the match commissioner tried to persuade me to continue, but physically and psychologically I did not feel well. Nor were the conditions for my referee team to return to the field". Finally, Michael Espinoza said he regrets what happened as "it is an unfortunate event for our football and its image around the world".
The Discipline Committee of the FPF has not yet ruled on the outcome of the match or on the sanctions that will be applied. The Head of the National Referees Committee (CONAR), Henry Gambetta, said: "Michael told me that when he left the dressing room to go to the field and start the second half, a person blocked him by stopping in front of him and did not let him pass, while another person assaulted him from behind, so he had to take refuge in the dressing room. The first person showed him the handle of a gun", said Gambetta, which complicates the situation by adding the ingredient of a firearm. He also blamed the organizers of the event, Comerciantes Unidos, for the unfortunate event. "What is strange is that it was a game behind closed doors and these things happened; the people in charge are the organizers, in this case Comerciantes Unidos", he said. "The only people authorized to be in the stadium were the players, managers, referees, the match commissioner and the press. Definitely the people who have attacked the referee have a connection with the team”, he added. On the other hand, the president of the Association of Professional Referees, Miguel Santiváñez, did not remain aloof from the situation and informed that one of the aggressors have already been identified. "It has been possible to investigate the information and the name of the person has been found. I do not know if he is linked to Comerciantes Unidos, but I have been told that he has been followed-up through social networks", Santiváñez said. At the time when this event occurred, Comerciantes Unidos was losing 2-0 against Ayacucho FC. Both teams are in the relegation zone.
