In a tragic incident which unfolded in the tiny Central American nation of El Salvador on Sunday, former national football player Alfredo Pacheco has been shot dead. The concerned authorities have revealed that the 33-year-old was murdered by an unidentified person at a gas station in the city of Santa Ana, which is about 76 kilometers west of the capital San Salvador.
The local police have revealed that two friends of the former footballer who were travelling with him were injured in the incident and the motive behind the heinous murder is still being investigated.
"The former international was killed by a group of unknown assailants as he left a petrol station with friends," said the police spokesperson.
El Salvador has been plagued by gang violence in recent years with more than 6,000 murders reported between January and November, almost the double the recorded figure for the same period in 2014, according to a national watchdog, IML. It has one of the highest murder rates in the world.
This is the second such incident where a footballer has been murdered in the month of December. Earlier in the month, Honduras International footballer Arnold Peralta was killed while on holiday in his hometown. The 26-year-old was shot dead in the car park of a shopping centre in La Ceiba, on the country's Caribbean coast.
Pacheco was El Salvador’s most capped International footballer
Pacheco was the highest capped player ever in El Salvador football history. The defender had won 83 caps for the national side. For most of his career, Pacheco played for one of El Salvador’s biggest clubs FAS where he made 239 appearances scoring 31 goals.
He also made a short loan spell with MLS franchise New York Red Bulls where he featured in 14 games for the club in 2009.
However, the defender was banned for life by El Salvador’s football federation, La Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol (FESTFUT) in 2013 for match-fixing. Pacheco and another 13 members of the national team were found guilty of receiving bribes to lose several matches between 2010-13.
