[ad_1]
The former soccer player for the Colombian national team had pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to bring cocaine to the United States.
This Friday, Jhon Viáfara, a former soccer player for the Colombian national team, was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison for drug trafficking in a Texas court in the United States.
Viáfara was extradited to the United States in January 2020 and in December of that year, he pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to bring cocaine to the North American country.
According to the courts, Viáfara would have been the person in charge of coordinating the shipping routes and payment for the transportation of the cocaine.
His work as a footballer
Jhon Eduis Viáfara Mina will always be remembered for what he did on July 1, 2004. That day is, so far, the most important in the history of Once Caldas. He faced Boca Juniors in the final of the Copa Libertadores de América, the most prestigious club tournament on the continent. When they barely ran seven minutes into the game, the then right-handed midfielder received a ball 30 meters from the rival goal and took a shot that stuck in the corner and that remained eternally in the retina of the fans of the white box. Roberto Abondanzieri’s flyby was useless. In the second half, the giant Argentine team tied with a header from Nicolás Burdisso, but those led by Luis Fernando Montoya executed the penalties better and raised the coveted trophy.
(You may be interested: “Before I was a prisoner of appearances, now I am free”: Jhon Viáfara)
Before that feat, Viáfara, who was born in the village of Robles, belonging to the municipality of Jamundí, Valle del Cauca, debuted with Deportivo Pasto in 1998. That year he conquered the second division with the Nariño team. After playing 44 games and scoring 2 goals, he was transferred to América de Cali, an institution where he was between 2000 and 2001, and from which he left with a title. He returned to Pasto, prior to his unforgettable time at Once Caldas de Manizales, from where he left for football in England. He wore the Portsmouth jersey from 2005 to 2006 and traveled to San Sebastián, Spain, to join Real Sociedad. His last experience in a European cast was at Southampton in England. In 2008 he returned to Colombia.
Valle del Cauca’s career continued, again, at Once Caldas, with which he was Colombian soccer champion in 2009. La Equidad hired him for the 2010 season and a year later he left for Junior. In the Barranquilla team he did not last long and went to Deportivo Pereira. His medium-distance shots were less and less effective, his projections on the right wing, where he used to play, began to be scarce. His sports career, in decline. Independiente Medellín, Deportivo Cali, with whom he won the 2014 Super League, and Águilas Doradas, the last clubs of his stage as a professional footballer.
Viáfara was also part of the Colombian senior team. He was in the Copa América in Peru 2004 and in the one in Venezuela 2007. His performances with the national team’s shirt were not highlighted and he soon ceased to be part of the calls. After his retirement, he made headlines for his scandals off the pitch. In 2011 he was captured after crashing while driving while intoxicated and in February of this year he starred in a similar episode on the roads of the Cauca Valley, in which he suffered minor bruises and destroyed his truck.
(Also read: The confessions of Jhon Viáfara)
On the courts, Viáfara served as a recovery midfielder or on the right wing. He was strong on the brand and contributed in offensive actions. He had an outstanding physical display that earned him to play in European football. Outside the grass his behavior has not been exemplary. That right hand that in 2004 filled the sports summaries and filled him with glory is becoming more and more opaque. What he did with his feet he erased with his hands: he was extradited to the United States.
