Former Colombia striker Faustino Aspria has said he had to persuade a professional killer not to assassinate former Paraguayan goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert after a 1997 World Cup qualifier.
In a documentary broadcast on Colombian Tele Pacifico television on Tuesday, Aspria said the professional killer had called his hotel room after he and Chilavert were sent off in a qualifying match in Asuncion that ended in a 2-1 victory for Paraguay.
The murderer, who died in a drug-related shootout in 2004, asked Asperia for permission to kill Chilavert but the Colombian striker refused.
"What? Have you gone mad? Colombian football will be destroyed, you can't do that," Aspria replied.
Chilavert is famous for scoring several goals through direct irregularities, scoring 55 goals in 696 games in his career with Paraguay and the various clubs he has played for.
The former Parma and Newcastle United striker, who turned 50 this week, was one of the most prominent names in Colombian football in the 1990s.
The incident highlights the violence in Colombia and the once powerful links between football and powerful drug dealers, such as Pablo Escobar, who was a big fan of the game in the 1990s.
In one of the blackest chapters in football history, Colombia defender Andres Escobar was shot dead outside a bar in Medellin in 1994, apparently as a punishment for his own goal a few days ago, which left Colombia out of the World Cup in the United States.