FC Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono has received a 12-match suspension from club football — the maximum punishment the Royal Spanish Football Federation's Disciplinary Committee was able to impose — following the collision in which Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel, 30, lost his life earlier this month.
The committee applied articles 102 and 52 of the RFEF Disciplinary Code. Article 102 covers violent conduct during play that causes serious injury or harm to an opponent and carries a range of between four and 12 matches; the committee determined the top end of that range was warranted. Owono was also fined €600 for the challenge, while FC Andorra were separately fined €2,400.
The incident occurred in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time during a Segunda División fixture in Tenerife on 2 November. De Miguel was moving to meet a long ball when Owono came racing far out of his penalty area towards the halfway line to intercept it. His raised knee struck the striker in the chest, and referee Manuel Ángel Pérez Hernández immediately showed Owono a straight red card, noting in his report that the goalkeeper had used excessive force against an opponent while the ball was in play. The match was abandoned shortly afterwards.
De Miguel received more than five minutes of on-pitch treatment, with his team-mates visibly distressed, before being carried from the field on a stretcher to a standing ovation. He suffered a cardiac arrest and was taken to hospital, where he died the following morning. A preliminary autopsy gave the cause of death as accidental chest trauma.
The committee's written decision made clear that the nature of the challenge and the circumstances around it left no room for a lesser sanction. Separately, the federation ruled the abandoned fixture will not be replayed, with a committee saying allowing the scoreline at the moment of abandonment to stand was the most respectful course of action given the extraordinary nature of the case.
Spanish law requires a judicial enquiry into any death not considered natural in cause. An investigation was opened under the supervision of a court in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in coordination with local police. The territory's chief prosecutor indicated to news agency EFE that the initiation of criminal proceedings was very unlikely, a view echoed by a separate prosecutorial source.
Owono, 25, who represents Equatorial Guinea internationally but is not part of the squad for this month's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Zimbabwe, has remained largely out of public view. He deactivated his social media accounts after receiving widespread abuse and, according to Spanish media, has rarely left his home. FC Andorra head coach Carles Manso said on Thursday that Owono had not yet decided whether he would return to football at all.
FC Andorra defender Lautaro Spatz spoke publicly in support of his teammate, saying, according to the Mirror: "I would also like to say a few words about my teammate, goalkeeper and friend, who is deeply affected by what has happened. Those of us who know him are aware of the sort of person he is, how much he is suffering at this time, and that he would never have intended to harm anyone. In football, there are accidental incidents, but no one could have imagined that one of them could lead to such tragic consequences."
De Miguel was laid to rest in Navahermosa, Toledo, and is survived by his partner, Maria, and their daughter, Carla. Around 400 mourners attended his funeral last Thursday, among them Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente and Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez. Tenerife have pledged to provide financial support for his daughter until she reaches adulthood.
Reporting: Evening Standard, BBC Sport, The Athletic, ESPN, The Guardian, GiveMeSport, Daily Mail, The Sun, Mirror.