ECUADORIAN footballer Mario Pineida has been murdered in a drive-by shooting in his native country.
The Barcelona SC of Ecuador defender, aged 33, was killed after two people on motorbikes opened fire on him, his mother and another woman outside of a shop in Guayaquil, according to reports from Ecuador.
Another person, who police did not identify, was also killed in the incident, and a third was wounded. Ecuador’s interior ministry say that it has sent a special police unit to investigate Pineida’s death.
The city of Guayaquil is renowned for its crime and is considered a hotspot for gang violence and drug trafficking. A total of 1,900 murders were recorded between January and September – the highest in Ecuador.
Pineida won nine caps for his country between 2014 and 2021, including being part of their 23-man squad for the Copa America tournaments in 2015 and 2017.
His final game for Ecuador was at the 2021 Copa America, as a second-half substitute in a group game against Brazil.
He started his professional career with Independiente del Valle, where he played from 2010 to 2015. Pineida then moved to the club of the coastal city of Guayaquil in 2016, winning two league titles there.
In 2022, he had a loan spell with Brazilian side Fluminense and he was also loaned to Ecuadorian side El Nacional in 2024. Fluminense were among the clubs to pay tribute.
“Fluminense Football Club received with deep sorrow the news of the passing of Mario Pineida, an athlete who defended the club in 2022,” a post on social media read.
“Pineida arrived at the Tricolor at the beginning of the season in which we were crowned together as Carioca champions. Fluminense extends solidarity to his family and friends.”
Ecuador is expected to have its most violent year on record with more than 9,000 homicides, according to the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organised Crime. That figure was at 7,063 violent deaths last year and a then-record 8,248 in 2023.
With agency report