Ecuador international defender Mario Pineida has died aged 33 after being shot in the city of Guayaquil.
Local media reported that Pineida was attacked on Wednesday when two people on motorbikes opened fire outside a shop in the north of the city. His mother and another woman were also injured in the shooting.
Ecuador’s interior ministry confirmed that a special police unit has been deployed to investigate the incident.
Guayaquil has become a focal point for gang-related violence and drug trafficking, with around 1,900 murders recorded between January and September this year – the highest figure in the country.
The attack follows a series of violent incidents involving footballers in Ecuador, with three second-tier players killed in September and another local player wounded in a shooting in October.
Pineida earned nine international caps for Ecuador between 2014 and 2021. He began his club career at Independiente del Valle before joining Barcelona SC in Guayaquil in 2016, and also had loan spells at Fluminense and El Nacional.
Tributes were paid across the football community, with Independiente del Valle and Fluminense honouring him on social media. Barcelona SC said the “unfortunate news makes all of us who are part of this institution deeply dismayed”.
The Ecuadorian Football Federation also condemned the violence and expressed its condolences to Pineida’s family.
