Brother of Colombian Women’s National Soccer Star Killed In Shooting Days After World Cup Loss

Colombia women’s national soccer team player Jorelyn Carabalí’s younger brother Paulo Andrés Carabalí was killed in a nightclub shooting Monday morning, police in Cali, Colombia said, according to multiple news outlets. He was 23.

Paulo worked as a DJ at the nightclub, police said, The Associated Press reports

There is still some confusion among Carabalí’s family surrounding the events that led up to the fatal shooting. “It is very hard, until now we are still confused, very confused, we ask for justice. We hope that the Prosecutor’s Office will investigate and that the Prosecutor’s Office will say what the real reason for death was,” Paulo’s aunt, Patricia Carabalí, told Caracol News in Spanish.

The Colombian Football Federation, the country’s governing body of soccer, sent condolences to Jorelyn Carabalí and her family in a statement Monday.

“The Colombian Football Federation deeply regrets the death of Andrés Carabalí, brother of the player Jorelyn Carabalí, a member of the Colombian Women’s Soccer Team,” read a translation of its statement.

“From the FCF we send our deepest condolences to family and friends. Likewise, we express our full support and solidarity with the defense of the National Team,” the statement concluded. “Rest in peace.”

The shooting occurred early Monday morning in northern Cali when witnesses say men with firearms entered the location, according to Caracol News.

“We are carrying out the entire investigation, reviewing the establishment’s security cameras and the public and private security cameras in the area to identify the possible perpetrators of this homicide, we already have a team in the establishment talking with the administrators, with the people in charge,” Jimmy Dranguet, Secretary of Security and Justice of Cali, said.

When the team returned to Bogotá, Carabalí did not attend a ceremony celebrating the team advancing further in the tournament than expected, reports Blu Radio. She was featured in a video tribute, with her teammates chanting their support for her.

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Carabalí plays as the center-back for Colombia and the Brazilian club Atlético Mineiro. Carabalí and her teammates reached the quarter-finals of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup before being knocked out on Saturday. They lost to England 2-1, ending a surprising run that included a 2-1 victory over Germany on July 30.

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