Kenyan football fans are split over whether or not Andorra FC goalkeeper Jesus Owono should be jailed for fouling Tenerife’s Jesus de Miguel, leading to the striker’s death this week.
The 25-year-old goalkeeper broke his silence over the stoppage time incident on Tuesday evening, saying he never meant to harm his opponent whom he fouled close to the centre of the pitch in a bizarre overlap that has been roundly criticized as “reckless.”
Miguel, 30, died in hospital on Tuesday morning after suffering cardiac arrest after Owono rushed out to midfield in Monday's Segunda Division (Second Division) match and caught him in the chest with a raised knee. Owono, an Equatorial Guinea international, was sent off and the match was abandoned at 2-2.
Owono posted the message on social media alongside a black-and-white photo of himself. He wrote that he was completely devastated by what happened, and that a routine football match had turned into a tragedy he would carry for the rest of his life.
“It was a terrible accident,” he wrote. He said he wished with all his heart he could take back what happened, and that although football means everything to him, he would never place a win, a goal or a defeat above a human life. He closed with an apology, saying he would carry the loss forever, and a farewell to De Miguel.
“I feel devastated, it was never my intention to end the life of Jesús de Miguel in that entry, I apologize a thousand times and send my condolences to his family and to Club Tenerife,” Owono was quoted as saying.
Before De Miguel died, Ivan Alvarez of Cadena COPE reported that Owono was devastated, crying and praying in the dressing room. Alvarez said the keeper had planned to contact De Miguel's family privately before saying anything in public. It remains unclear whether that contact happened after the striker's death.
Jesus de Miguel scored 11 goals in 29 matches for Tenerife. Photo - Courtesy
In Kenya, fans remain split over whether or not the goalkeeper should be punished by a jail sentence. Spanish police have opened an investigation into possible involuntary manslaughter. That is a standard step when a death is considered non-natural, and it does not mean Owono has been charged.
Reacting to the incident on Facebook, Otieno Otieno wrote: “In truth, Jesus Owono went out intentionally to harm Jesus de Miguel for reasons that I do not know. As soon as he hits him on the air through the collision, you see no remorse on his face and body language as he makes his way for the tunnel, out of the pitch.
“He knows what he has done. And he is certainly aware that it is a straight send off. But he is not bothered. He walks out. That shows that he knows what he did, and at that point was satisfied with his action. But wait! He realises that the harm is more than intended. Suddenly, he rushes back. The damage is not what he had negotiated for or aimed at. I am sure that he wanted a hard knock, but not a heavy knock that kills. Too late!”
Wangila Wekesa struck a sympathetic chord: “We have seen keepers go in the air with knees up umpteen times. They have never had intentions of killing the opponents. Some of them have in fact collided with their own team mates! Intentional?,” he argued.
“No one on that pitch IMMEDIATELY realised the gravity of the injury. Not the ref, not even Miguel's teammates. In fact, the Tenerife shirt number 21 visibly celebrated the red card and quickly haggled for the ball hoping to start off a move to win the game. It took an opponent to frantically wave everyone's attention to the unresponsive player. Owono was remorseful enough to rush back, with concern, to check on the flaccid striker. Spare him some slack.”
Giulio Ongaro believes the incident is a common occurrence in sport: “This is the result of a collision between two athletes going full speed in opposite directions. Owono was going full speed, trying to get to the ball and so was his opponent. Keepers often lift the knees as a protection reflex. Was it a red card? Yes, I would agree with that, but then we would have to say that a lot of red cards could result in criminal charges and a sort of media lynching, as they are doing now to the keeper. I saw a couple of red cards in the Premier this past weekend alone where the player could have easily broken the leg/ankle of the opponent. This is a freak accident. Period.”
Eba Tsakura agreed that although it was a foul, Owono had no intention to harm the striker: “The African mentality. Nobody leaves home with the intention of getting himself in a road accident. He committed an offense in the field of play but not with the intention to kill anybody. He was indeed negligent but the intention was not to murder. Separate the two.”
Jesus de Miguel joined Tenerife in 2025 on a three-year deal. Photo - Courtesy
But Isaac Otendo had no sympathy for the ‘keeper: “That boy should never be allowed anywhere near a football stadium, not even as a fan.”
On the other hand, Elkanah Wakhungu maintains it was a genuine accident: “Don't judge the goalkeeper harshly. I don't think if the intention was to harm the late. It was just an accident. You see after discovering something was wrong, he went back to the field to see what was going on.”
Under Article 142 of Spain's Penal Code, causing death through gross negligence carries a potential prison term of one to four years. A conviction would require investigators to show that the challenge went beyond the normal risks of football and directly caused the death. Even then, Owono would only have to serve time if he were sentenced to more than two years.
The early legal view points against prosecution.
Reports now suggest Owono is unlikely to face criminal charges, although police and football authorities are running separate investigations. There has been no judicial finding that he deliberately injured De Miguel.
Investigators will review TV footage and stadium security cameras, take statements from Owono and the medical staff, and also examine the treatment De Miguel received on the pitch and in hospital.
Prison looks unlikely, but sporting punishment is another matter. Spanish football's disciplinary code suggests a four- to 12-match suspension for violent conduct that causes serious injury.
After De Miguel's death was confirmed, Owono was targeted with racist slurs and accusations of murder, and he shut his accounts. The abuse spread so widely that another footballer, Michel Owono, was wrongly targeted and had to publicly state he was not the Andorra keeper.
All UEFA competition matches this week will be preceded by a moment of silence in tribute to De Miguel.
Real Madrid's first-team squad held a minute's silence for De Miguel before training on Tuesday morning. Photo - Read Madrid
