In the 1980s, foreign referees were hired for the finals in Colombia, to give greater status to the tournament and lower suspicions of arrangements. Pablo Escobar, the most relevant drug dealer in the history of Colombia and America, in addition to being the seventh richest man in the world in the late 1980s, according to Forbes magazine, was a close collaborator of the clubs from Medellin, reaching its top moment with the Copa Libertadores won by Atletico Nacional in 1989. The influence of drug trafficking in the Colombian football, with its dark and bulging fortunes, ended up being key to this achievement. Until that time, Colombia hasn't won absolutely nothing. The Colombian football never felt capable of big wins, said Alexis Garcia in the documentary "The Two Escobar." Even the historic coach Francisco Maturana - who took the team to the continental peak - pointed out that Colombia did not exist in football. After that time, everyone realized that Colombia exists.
The most critical moment was the murder of referee Alvaro Ortega, on 15 November 1989, in Medellin, at the orders of Pablo Escobar, which forced the national government to suspend the professional football championship. Ortega's death is attributed to Medellin gamblers who invested billions of pesos in bets. Three years earlier, Chilean referee Gaston Castro lived in his own flesh the murky handling of the cartel led by Pablo Escobar. Castro arrived in Colombia along with his compatriot Enrique Marin to referee the match between Atletico Nacional and America de Cali, for the seventh matchday of the Octagonal in 1986. Finally, Gaston Castro, who refereed at the 1982 World Cup in Spain, left the country afraid because someone knocked on the door of his hotel room in Medellín to tell him how the score of the match he was about to referee hours later should look like. After receiving the threat from the cartel, Castro spoke to the newspaper El Tiempo, Bogota, and said: “I felt death very close... In Colombia, the main protagonist of a game is the referee and not the players. Each game is a war, where the honor and pride of a region seem to be played. The healthy competition disappeared”.
After many years, in 2019, Gaston Castro, former World Cup referee and former president of the Chilean Referees Committee, gave more details about that match in Medellin to Arbitraje de Frente, a Colombian YouTube channel. "I refereed several classics in the famous Octagonal, since they used referees from other countries because there was a lot of mistrust and a series of situations that today, thank God, are eradicated from Colombian football. It was a very difficult and hard time for Colombian refereeing... On that occasion it was my turn to be in Colombia twice and I refereed very difficult games that allowed me to gain experience. In the second season I was sent to referee in the Octagonal, I lived a regrettable experience in Medellin. I left Colombia with a very bitter flavor and hoping that no referee will ever be killed," he said. Continuing the story, the former FIFA referee - now 75 years old - said: “Three hours away from going to the stadium, I was waiting for my assistants to arrive. I was with Dr. Morales in the room when they knocked on the door. I thought there were my assistants, but the two men at the door were looking for me. The doctor tried to close the door, but they opened it with a karate kick. They broke a lamp, came close to me with a revolver and told me that, if I don't favor Atletico Nacional, they are going to kill me. It was very hard, very difficult. Dr. Morales was assaulted. Before they left, they told me that, if I report the incident, they will kill me and will take care of my family. When the assistants arrived, I told them what had happened, and we went to the house of the relatives of one of them. Despite the strong threat, what led me to go to the Anastasio Girardot stadium was that the agent said - surprisingly - that I was drunk. That was one of the alternatives they used to explain why Gaston Castro didn't show up. Faced with this situation, I forgot that I had my four children and my wife waiting for me in Chile. I went to take a risk and I said, here I'm going to die, no matter, but I was going to die with my boots on. One hour before the kick-off, when everyone was wondering what's going on with Gaston, why hasn't he arrived, I showed up and said that I have been threatened with death, that's why I am not going to referee this match. In the change room, I met the presidents of both delegations and the match delegate. There was also a Colombian police colonel, who told me, “Sir, I regret what happened, but this happens here every day and at any time”. Finally, I told the colonel that I am not going to referee the match, despite the full stadium. Of course, when I got to the stadium everyone was shouting that I was drunk, but I told the authorities that I can only do the alcohol test in the United States: if you give me a plane, I do the test anywhere, but not in Colombia". The next day, the Chilean referee submitted his report to the Colombian league, as did the club managers, who backed Castro, saying that he was not drunk, but his fear was dominant. One of the assistants, Humberto Vargas, ended up refereeing the game. America de Cali won 3-2 in the Anastasio Girardot stadium, consolidated their position as leader and would end the tournament as champions.
Source: Bio Bio Chile