Back in March, midfielder John Viáfara, once of Southampton and Portsmouth, was arrested in Colombia over drug offences.
The 40-year-old has been accused of being part of an international organisation which was smuggling cocaine to the United States.
Viáfara has been kept in Colombia since then, but now, the paperwork is being sorted so he can be extradited to the United States and be judged in Texas.
Colombian TV show Grueso Calibre managed to interview the player’s father, who talked a little about how hard it’s been for his family lately.
“Until last year I worked as a cleaner in a school, I worked from six in the morning to two in the afternoon and then I was already in my position as a firefighter. As much as fame and money come to you, you’re nothing more than anyone,” said José Elier.
“People supported him a lot when he won the Copa Libertadores, it was madness and something big. People now cry and we regret what happened, because as far as we see, it’s an injustice what is happening. This is very hard, because sometimes my wife makes the food that my son liked and gives us nostalgia. We trust that we will be victorious.”
After winning the Copa Libertadores in 2004 for Once Caldas, Viáfara signed for Portsmouth in a €2.4m deal in the summer of 2005.
He only played for the club for six months, having been loaned to Real Sociedad in January 2006. The following summer, he was sold to Southampton for €250k.
Viáfara featured for the Saints for two seasons, making 83 appearances for the club. In 2008, he returned to Once Caldas, and kept playing for various clubs in his home country until retiring in 2015.
