Goalkeeper Owono handed 12-match ban after De Miguel death

Résumé détaillé

Owono and De Miguel ⁠collided during a Spanish second-tier match between FC Andorra and ​Tenerife on November 2.

FC Andorra goalkeeper Jesus Owono was suspended for 12 matches by the Spanish football federation’s disciplinary committee on Friday after his challenge on Jesus de Miguel resulted in the death of the Tenerife forward last week.

Owono was sent off in the second division clash on November 2 after racing into midfield and colliding with De Miguel while trying to clear an aerial ball.

After the collision, De Miguel, 30, was placed in intensive care in hospital and the Spanish forward died on November 3.

“The assessment of the conduct under consideration in these proceedings must be based on the facts expressly recorded in the referee’s report, which states that the player was sent off for ‘violently striking an opponent in the chest with his leg, using excessive force, while the ball was in play’,” said the committee in a statement.

“The tragic outcome of the incident, resulting in the death of Jesus de Miguel Alameda, is public knowledge.

“In view of the nature of the conduct described and the accompanying circumstances … the maximum sanction, 12 matches of suspension, is justified.”

Spanish police sources last week told the AFP news agency an investigation into what happened had been opened under judicial supervision.

Equatorial Guinea goalkeeper ‌Owono said he was enduring the “hardest days of my life” after De Miguel’s death.

“These are the hardest days of my life. I struggle to find the words, and it is very difficult for me to process anything that has happened,” said Owono in a statement published by his club Andorra last week.

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