By Humberto Viera
Aug 18, 2024, 6:20 PM EDT
Former Guatemalan footballer and current second division coach Julio Aris Leiva was shot dead on Sunday before his team’s match this afternoon in the northwest of the Central American country, according to various sources consulted by EFE.
Aris Leiva, 47, was attacked with a firearm in the department (province) of Huehuetenango, about 300 kilometers northwest of Guatemala City, according to the First Division of Guatemalan Soccer, the second most important after the Major League.
The circumstances and details of the attack against the former footballer have not been disclosed by the authorities.
The attack on Julio Ariz Leiva was direct 😭.
Amazing 😭
People dressed as police arrived at where the Deportivo San Pedro fans were eating, they took him out of the place and shot him at the entrance, they were hitmen from a cartel. The attack was direct! It can’t be. No man’s land, 😭😭😭. pic.twitter.com/VjuOyB9szL
— WI-JO-® (@wijors) August 18, 2024
Aris Leiva was the coach of the Deportivo San Pedro team in the second division of Guatemalan football. The team under Aris Leiva’s command was scheduled to play this afternoon against the La Democracia club in Huehuetenango, but the match was cancelled after the attack.
According to local media, the technical director of Deportivo San Pedro was attacked in a restaurant in Huehuetenango where his team was waiting for this afternoon’s match, in the municipality of La Democracia.
Aris Leiva played for more than a decade in the top tier of Guatemalan football with the clubs Marquense, Xelajú, Petapa, Zacapa and Heredia, among others.
Guatemala recorded a total of 4,361 murders in 2023, 2% more than in 2022, based on official data from the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif).
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