Footballer shot by team's own fan, incident related to match defeat

Juan Sebastian Quintero says he survived an assassination attempt (Image: Golders/Juan Sebastian Quintero)

A professional footballer has told how he survived an assassination attempt, claiming one of his team's own fans shot at him at point blank range.

Colombian Juan Sebstian Quintero, who plays for Deportivo Cali, said a man approached his car, pointed a gun at him and said: "I killed you, son of a b*tch".

He said he was driving home when the incident happened in the town of Jamundi in the Valle del Cauca department.

Quintero, 23, told reporters: "I was getting to my flat when I felt someone knocking on my window and the person with the gun was there ready to shoot me.

"It took me two or three seconds to react and I accelerated.

"He just knocked on the window, pointed the gun at me and said, 'I killed you, son of a b*tch'.

"The only thing I saw was a Deportivo Cali tracksuit. Who did it and what happened are being investigated.

"The shot hit the door and my brother and I got away unharmed, luckily.

"These things cannot happen in football. Making an attempt on someone's life, people with family, mothers, fathers and for some of my teammates, children."

A photo shows the bullet hole in Quintero's Porsche SUV.

Quintero said he told investigators he had received threatening messages, but said they were "normal" messages football players receive on social media and then "delete".

Investigators are working to establish whether it was an attempted robbery or if it had been related to Deportivo Cali being knocked out of the Copa Sudamericana by Argentinian side Santa Fe.

The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been reported.

Quintero recently returned to Deportivo Cali after a year in Spain on loan with Sporting Gijon.