Despite a reward offering, Luis Diaz’s father is still missing since both of his parents were abducted last Saturday. They were attacked in their neighborhood in the Caribbean town of Barrancas, Colombia.
The kidnapping of Liverpool player Diaz’s parents on Saturday afternoon sparked a police pursuit. At the time, authorities safely freed Diaz’s mother.
The Colombian international did not return to his homeland as the military looks for his missing father. Authorities deemed it would be a security risk for Diaz to return to his home country. For his own protection, he will remain in the United Kingdom.
But the Colombian government has not been able to track down his dad. The heads of police updated Diaz throughout the process.
Liverpool did not include the player in the matchday roster for the Premier League game against Nottingham Forest. In the wake of Diogo Jota’s first goal, the Reds paid homage to Diaz. Jota raised DIaz’s shirt as Liverpool cruised to a 3-0 victory at Anfield.
Who is responsible for the kidnapping of Luis Diaz’s father?
On Thursday, the government said it had learned that the ELN was behind the abduction of Diaz’s parents over the weekend. The National Liberation Army, or Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN) in Spanish, is a rebel group. The United States and the European Union designate the group as a terrorist organization.
Before fleeing with Diaz’s father, the kidnappers abandoned Diaz’s mother, Cilenis Marulanda, in a vehicle as the police closed in, the Daily Mail claims. The organization would likely free him within the next few hours, according to a report from the Colombian daily Semana.
Luis Diaz has not been in the Liverpool squad for two games, but fans continue to show the Colombian support.
Negotiator Otty Patino, who leads the Colombian government’s peace delegation, said on Thursday that the ELN was responsible for Diaz’s father’s abduction and demanded his release. A statement stated, “We demand the immediate release of Mr. Luis Manuel Diaz and remind the ELN that it is their responsibility to guarantee his life and integrity.”
In response, ELN spokesperson Juan Carlos Cuellar informed a community gathering, in video footage supplied by the ELN with Reuters, that they would free Diaz’s father “as soon as possible.”
Semana further notes that the ELN peace delegation members were ignorant of the militants’ role in the abduction until only hours before their news conference. Colombians are skeptical of the allegations that he may earn freedom. However, the police chief in charge of the operation has not provided an update.
Will Luis Diaz play this weekend?
Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Luis Diaz has returned to training in recent days. However, the winger’s participation in Saturday’s game against Luton would be entirely up to him.
The German manager informed the media that his player had been participating in training this week.
“He was in training two days ago, he had a session yesterday and will be part of the team. We must wait. If he feels right, he will be here and train with us.
“The session he had with us, because then we were not here, you could see that when he’s with the boys, it’s fine, it’s OK. But you could see as well that he didn’t sleep a lot. So, we just have to see how he is, and we go from there.
“The news from Colombia, I didn’t get it personally, I always get it forwarded. But everything that gives us a little bit of hope is good. So, we are waiting actually for the really good news.
“But that’s it pretty much, I cannot really say what we will do because we just wait for where we can pick up the boy from and go from there. It’s all about him, that he makes himself available or not, and I will not force anything.”
PHOTOS: IMAGO
