Former Ecuadorian national team defender Mario Pineida has been killed in a targeted motorcycle shooting in Guayaquil amid a rising wave of drug-related violence in the country.
Ecuadorian international footballer Mario Pineida was shot and killed on Wednesday in the port city of Guayaquil.
The 33-year-old defender, who represented his country during the 2018 and 2022 World Cup cycles, was reportedly targeted by two assailants on motorcycles.
Local news outlets indicate the gunmen opened fire on Pineida while he was accompanied by his mother and another woman, marking a grim escalation of violence in the region.
His club, Barcelona SC, confirmed the tragic news via a statement on X, expressing deep mourning for their veteran player.
The club said it “regrets to inform, with deep sorrow, that it has been officially notified of the death of our player Mario Pineida, an event that occurred following an attack against him” in the city.
The Interior Ministry has since deployed a specialized police unit to investigate the targeted shooting.
The killing comes amid a surge in gang violence and drug-related insecurity in Guayaquil, which has recently become one of South America’s most dangerous transit hubs.
Pineida is the latest in a series of footballers targeted in the country; three second-division players were killed in September alone.
This wave of violence reflects a broader national crisis as Ecuador struggles with rising homicide rates and systemic extortion linked to international cocaine trafficking.