Colombia national soccer coach Hernan Dario Gomez on Monday admitted he hit a woman in a Bogota bar.
According to several witnesses who spoke to W Radio, the fight occurred around midnight on Saturday at a bar in Bogota called “El Bembe.” The woman involved was under the influence of alcohol and had been repeatedly making soccer-related insults. In response, Gomez attacked the woman and hit her twice, although other eyewitnesses indicated that the woman had also bumped into the trainer.
On Monday, the coach formally acknowledged what had happened and gave his response on the same radio station.
“To confront the incident that happened last Saturday, that I have been tormented by since, I want to publicly announce that I am deeply sorry for what happened and the fact that I lost control in the way that I did,” said Gomez.
“Believe me, that this has made me very worried, and that I will take every and all measures necessary to make sure that this never happens again. As you know, I have always been in defense of woman who I admire and respect. What I have done, makes me ashamed because of my mother, my wife, and each and every one of the women in my family and in my country,” the coach added.
Update (Monday, 15:30)
After Gomez’ confession Monday, the female delegation officers of Congress came forward to ask that he renounce from his job as coach. Senator and co-author of “Soccer Laws,” Dilian Francisca Toro, said that the aggression shown by Gomez “is reprehensible from all points of view.” She also added that “[soccer] should generate coexistence with, not violence against, all women” and to hit a woman “is much more than unsportsmanlike.”
The female president of “Equality for Women,” declared that an apology isn’t enough on behalf of the coach. For her, “it’s impossible” that Panamanian soccer player Luis Moreno was given the highest sentence for kicking an owl, to think that “when we address an act of violence against a woman that we are going to be satisfied with a simple apology.”
