Mario Pineida, an Ecuador player has died at the age of 33 after he was shot in Guayaquil.Â
Local media reported that he was shot on Wednesday by two people on motorbikes. The killers opened fire on the player, his mother and another woman outside a shop in the north of the city.
Ecuador’s interior ministry said it has sent a special police unit to investigate the murder. This raises security concerns in the region around footballers after three second-tier footballers were killed in September and a local player was wounded in a shooting in October.
Pineida won 9 caps for Ecuador between 2014 and 2021. He began his career at Independentiente DV before moving to Barcelona SC Guayaquil in 2016.
He also spent time on loan at Fluminese and El Nacional. The Ecuadorian Football Federation has condemned the attack and consoled Pineida’s family on the loss.
