Diego Godin, the Uruguayan defender, bid farewell to his team Velez Sarsfield in a match that ended with a loss to Huracan.
However, the aftermath took a violent turn as some fans of the Argentine club attacked the players, assaulting them at gunpoint.
Upon returning to their training camp at the Villa Olimpica Stadium later that day, the players were ambushed by supporters who targeted their cars in a brutal manner.
“We arrived (at the Stadium) to get our cars and go home. We came out and it was all dark when the cars of the ‘Barra Brava’ came across us. There were probably five or six of them,” striker Gianluca Prestianni told ESPN on Monday.
“They hit me twice in the face while grabbing me by the jacket. I was too scared and my teammates didn’t want to go home in case they were followed.
“They even told one of them: ‘Get out of the car or I’ll shoot you twice in the legs,'” the 17-year-old forward said, adding that the incident is making him rethink staying at the club.
Former Boca Juniors defender Leonardo Jara was the one who received the threat. “They crossed a car in front of me, they wanted me to get out of mine and said they were going to shoot me in the legs,” he told a radio local program.
Santiago Castro and Francisco Ortega, both a forward and a defender respectively, were also part of the incident.
“Atletico Velez regrets and strongly repudiates the intimidating situation experienced last night by some of our first team players in the vicinity of the Villa Olimpica,” the club said in a statement.
According to reports from the local media, the players opted against lodging a formal complaint with the police. However, they were called in for a criminal investigation. Coach Sebastian Mendez informed the directors that the team would not resume training until their safety is assured.
Velez, having only secured five victories in 27 matches, ended up in the 25th position out of 28 teams following their defeat in the final round of the Argentine Professional League.
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