San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Football in Honduras is littered with new acts of corruption after former referee Omar Leivadisclosure bribery attempts to which he was subjected a few years ago.
Two days after his controversial statements, the lineman reported on Friday that he had decided to leave Honduras on Thursday afternoon., received death threats following his accusations.
“What I saw coming, I live it first hand, that’s why I made the decision to leave the country for my own safety and yesterday I had very strong threats. I was crossed by a black truck,” Omar Leivar said in a statement . on Radio Panorama’s Sports Panorama program.
The assistant referee gave details about the threat he received and said that he fears for his life and that of his family.
“I looked at death. They lowered the glass and its occupants told me, stop the garbage and leave quickly, I felt death, but God protected me at this moment, I am alive because God is great and kept me with my family, “he said.
Leiva did not hide the pain caused by the need to leave her relatives and leave Honduran territory.
“For my own safety, I can’t say the place where I will go, it hurts me to leave my loved ones. You leave this career in my country, but everything falls under its own weight. They exposed me more than I already was, I’m just telling them that they will be marked, they will have dignity and they will resign, stop this “.
Finally, the lineman invited his fellow referees to report corruption.
“I invite referees who know things and have evidence to stop this. Speak up, our lives and the lives of my family are in danger, I put on my brave backpack. The gunmen grabbed them by the neck in the locker room, they just lowered their heads, that’s enough “,said.
Complaint
Omar Leiva’s complaint is that the people from one of the teams that contested the 2013-2014 Apertura final in Tocoa, Colón, who played it Real Sociedad v. Real España, they were offered $ 10,000.
“I’m focused on my colleagues, they called me on my phone and I said, ‘Gentlemen, excuse me, I can’t accept these things, I’ll just do my job, I’m a professional. I will not accept them, but I will not affect them either. They said, “Okay, you don’t want your family,” and they interrupted me. This is serious”, Denounced the referee Catracho.
“I took the money I returned on Monday, the money they left lying around and I went to look for the friend they used and I talked to his father and I said: Ma exposed and come to return this money. It was 10 thousand dollars, five thousand for the engineer Óscar Velásquez and five thousand for me. Thank God I had the courage to call them and tell them to bring him back after the final.
Leiva did not want to involve the two remaining comrades of the quartet who whistled that match, which was commanded by Melvin Matamoros as director and Erick Andino as the fourth official.