Jesús Owono considers ending career after death
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Seneweb
Jesús Owono, goalkeeper for the Equatorial Guinea national team, is reportedly considering ending his career after Jesús de Miguel died following a collision during a match. Affected by the death and racist abuse on social media, Owono deactivated his accounts, according to those close to him cited by Mundo Deportivo.
Equatorial Guinea international goalkeeper Jesús Owono, deeply affected by the death of Jesús de Miguel following a collision with him during a match, is reportedly considering ending his professional career, Seneweb reports. Ana Maye, coordinator of the Equatorial Guinea national team and a close associate of the player, told Mundo Deportivo that the goalkeeper’s sense of guilt was such that he was no longer ruling out the possibility.
“Despite all our efforts to reassure him, he remains deeply saddened,” she explained, adding that Owono was particularly distressed by the consequences of the tragedy for the deceased’s family, his wife and their one-and-a-half-year-old child. “No one goes onto a pitch intending to kill another player,” she stressed in an attempt to relieve him of a burden he is struggling to bear.
Targeted on social media with racist insults and hateful messages, the goalkeeper deactivated his accounts. His family is also suffering the repercussions of the tragedy: his younger brother is being called a “murderer” and his sister, a student at the University of Valencia, is also being targeted. In a statement issued by his club on Wednesday, the player referred to “the most difficult days of my life”.
This ordeal extends a difficult week for Owono, left out of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and then publicly backed by the Equatorial Guinea Football Federation, while the Spanish football disciplinary sanction concerning him is expected next week.
