MADRID (The Thursday Times) — FC Andorra goalkeeper Jesus Owono has been suspended for 12 matches, the maximum sanction available, by the Spanish football federation’s disciplinary committee over the challenge on Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel, who died the day after their collision.
Owono, 25, was sent off in the second-division match in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on 2 November after racing out towards midfield to clear a high ball and colliding with De Miguel. The 30-year-old forward was taken to intensive care and died on 3 November.
In its ruling on Friday, the committee said it had to judge the case on the facts recorded in the referee’s report, which said Owono was dismissed for “violently striking an opponent in the chest with his leg, using excessive force, while the ball was in play.”
“The tragic outcome of the incident, resulting in the death of Jesús de Miguel Alameda, is public knowledge,” the committee said. “In view of the nature of the conduct described and the accompanying circumstances … the maximum sanction, 12 matches of suspension, is justified.”
Spanish police opened an investigation under judicial supervision last week.
Owono, an Equatorial Guinea international, has described these as “the hardest days of my life.” In a statement released by his club, he said: “I feel immense pain over the loss of Jesús. I think of him, of his family, and of all the people who loved him.” He withdrew from Equatorial Guinea’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Zimbabwe this month.
Andorra coach Carles Manso said on Thursday that it would be up to the goalkeeper to decide whether and when he plays again, and that the club would give him time and space to make that decision.
Tenerife players and fans gathered at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium on 7 November to say farewell to De Miguel. About 400 mourners attended his funeral, among them Spain coach Luis de la Fuente and Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez.
