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The father of Carlos Tevez was kidnapped on Tuesday by unknown assailants, but was released eight hours later and appeared to be physically unharmed. The lawyer for the Tevez family announced to reporters in Argentina that Segundo Tevez “is in good shape” but did not confirm the amount of the ransom sum paid to the kidnappers.
Argentine TV station C5N said Tevez was set free after a payment of $400,000, but this was not confirmed by the police either. Segundo Tevez was carjacked at 5 am on Tuesday morning. Juventus had said it had released the footballer to return to Argentina for “family reasons”, but it appears Tevez is staying put at the Juventus training camp in Turin following his father’s release. It is being speculated that it was not a targetted kidnapping because the kidnappers made two ransom demands, the later one much inflated than the first, possibly as a result of discovering their kidnapee’s identity.
The incident has deeply disturbed Carlos Tevez, who has reaffirmed his love for Argentina with all its faults by virtue of it being his homeland. He also thanked Daniel Scioli and Mauricio Macri, two Argentine politicians, suggesting that there was some government pressure in the episode involving one of Argentina’s favourite sons.
South American footballers’ families seem to enjoy no immunity to the general violence in their countries, this incident follows Hulk’s sister being kidnapped in 2012 and Robinho’s mother being kidnapped in 2005. Tevez thanked everyone for their support and said the most important thing was that his father was healthy and safe.
