As the 2026 FIFA World Cup rolls into its third week, the roar of packed stadiums can be heard across the globe. Like every other participating country, Colombia continues its journey for the gold. An intensely football-loving nation, sport is deeply rooted in the country’s national, social and cultural soil though it has a dark past.
The tragic murder of Andres Escober during 1994 FIFA World Cup is something that is known to everyone in the football world. But many might not know about the dark era of Colombia football that played into his murder. An era known to many as “Narco-football”.
The 80s and 90s Colombia saw a boom in the drug business which grew from a fragmented contraband smuggling to a multi-billion dollar empire.
At that time the businesses supplied up to 80% of the world’s cocaine. Driven by surging demands from various parts of the world, this era saw the rise of corporate style cartels, massive economic distortions and a brutal drug war among cartels.
Due to the massive money flow the cartels needed a way to “clean” their earnings as a result money laundering became a strategic part of the countries football.
This era saw cartels turning football clubs into highly effective money laundering machines. They exploited cash-based stadium operations, routinely falsified financial records. By inflating gate receipts and reporting thousands of ticket sales, the cartel injected millions of dollars of illegally obtained cash into the formal banking system.
“The mafia has taken over Colombian football.”- Rodrigo Lara Bonilla, Colombia’s Minister of Justice, issuing a public warning in 1984 shortly before he was assassinated by the Medellín Cartel.
This illicit wealth allowed clubs to secure elite talents via under the table cash bonuses and build state of the art training facilities. All the while money was being funneled through channels that legitimized the income. On the pitch, football operated under an autocratic system where cartels acted as shadow owners, using their teams as personal prestige projects.
When financial dominance was not enough to secure victory, they resorted to pure intimidation and violence, with cartels routinely using death threats or massive bribes to control referees, fix local match outcomes, and secure lucrative illegal gambling payouts.
“Our football became an escape valve for all the suffering the country was going through. We were poor, and suddenly we had all the resources we needed. Drug money allowed us to bring in great foreign players and keep our best homegrown talent from leaving.”- Francisco Maturana, legendary manager of Atlético Nacional and the Colombian National Team.
One of the key examples of cartel-controlled football is Pablo Escober and Medellín Cartel. During the 80s and 90s, Escober used his massive drug wealth to transform Atlético Nacional into a South American football giant.
Though he didn’t officially own the team to avoid asset seizures, as a shadow owner he laundered millions in cocaine profits. This financial backing allowed the club to secure elite talents and win the 1989 Copa Libertadores. For Escober, football was a powerful PR machine to win the loyalty of the Medellin slums by building infrastructure for the locals.
“The introduction of drug money allowed us to bring in great foreign players… Pablo Escobar never officially owned Atlético Nacional, but his cartel pumped millions in, transforming them into continental champions.
The formula was genius: drug money in, football glory out, reputation laundered.”- Jhon Jairo Velásquez (“Popeye”), Pablo Escobar’s chief assassin, detailing how the money bought social legitimacy.
However, his involvement introduced a reign of terror marked by match fixing, intimidation and deaths, most notably the assassination of referee Alvaro Ortega which forced the complete cancellation of the 1989 Colombian League season.
One of the most famous cases of Escober influence in football is when he invited the legendary Diego Maradona to play a friendly match inside his luxury prison fortress known as the La Catedral.
During this period, Maradona was serving a 15-month suspension from global football due to failing a drug test. Escober capitalizing on his situation offered him astronomical amounts of cash through intermediaries and had him flown to Colombia blindfolded.
The fortress had a professional quality football pitch where Maradona and Escober along with associates and selected Colombian professional players played a competitive match for fun. Following the match a celebration party was held in Maradona’s honor. During a private meeting afterwards, Escober paid the Argentinian legend his cash stack and expressed deep admiration.
“In 1991, Pablo Escobar invited me to play football with him in prison. We played a match and everyone had fun. The place was like a luxury hotel. Later, we partied with beautiful girls. All of this in a prison… I couldn’t believe it.
He paid me in cash in an office. He told me he loved my game and that he identified with me because we both rose from poverty.” Diego Maradona, reflecting on the surreal nature of the cartel-funded football ecosystem.
The shadow of the narco-era still hangs over Colombian football even after 3 decades. The murder of Andres Escober remains a painful reminder, a tragedy that ruined its reputation globally. It serves as an example of how far cartel influence can go, turning a beloved sport which should have been a source of national pride into a national crisis.
Today, Colombian football is trying to move past their dark history. People see sport as part of their nationality and culture. It is treated as a sport of unity, connecting people from all sides. Football serves as a tool for social healing, national integration and peacebuilding in a country marked by decades of armed drug violence.
Sport frequently steps in to heal communities and bridge the seemingly impossible divides. It is a part of a broader effort to reshape how Colombia sees itself and how it is seen by the rest of the world.
