 |
|
Argentina: Mendoza government may indemnify Azcurra following shooting [Sun Sep 18th, 2005]
The local government of Mendoza (Argentina – 1,200 kilometres from Capital city Buenos Aires) are examining the possibility of indemnifying Carlos Azcurra, 28, after a local policeman shot the player in the lung from a range of only 20 centimetres.
State governor Julio Cobos, deep in his re-election campaign, is considering offering a fixed sum to the San Martin player as well as a job in his administration. The shooting occurred towards the end of a second division game against Godoy Cruz last weekend, causing outrage across South America.
The governor will also offer to pay all hospital bills and medical costs incurred by the player – still hospitalised after having a lower portion of his left lung extirpated (removed) – as well as consequent physio and rehab expenses. Azcurra is expected to be forced to prematurely hang his boots up in the wake of the operation.
The good news is that the player is recovering slowly, although still breathing with the help of a respirator, and will probably be transferred from his current Intensive Care ward to a normal room. He has been defined by everybody from local journalists to close friends as a ‘buen chico’ (good boy).
Azcurra, the third of six brothers, is a quiet man, helping his family with his modest US$500 salary, happy to potter around in his newly bought Ford Ka, reading books on physical education in his spare time and always partial to the lip-searing ‘mate’ tea popular in this area of the world.
Corporal Marcial Maldonado, 42, the policeman responsible for – in his lawyer’s words ‘accidentally’ – shooting the player (residents of Mendoza refer to the episode as a ‘fuzilamento’, or firing squad execution) has tearfully asked for forgiveness, but may still face charges of attempted murder.
Aaron Marcus
News headlines from around the world.