A look at players who have blood on their hands directly or indirectly.

Patrick Kluivert

Ajax and Barcelona legend Patrick Kluivert was the darling of the Dutch public during his initial season at Ajax. An extremely gifted footballer, Kluivert won a host of major trophies with the Dutch side including a memorable UEFA Champions League triumph in 1995.

However, the talented footballer’s career in Netherlands came to a crashing halt when the then 19-year-old crashed his friend’s BMW M3 into Dutch theatre director’s car Martin Putnam resulting in the 56-year-old’s death.

A reconstruction of the scene revealed Kluivert had been travelling at 104kmh in a 50kmh residential zone and he was driving in a non-insured car. “He was in his friend’s car and he clearly could not handle the power of it, the noise of the crash sounded like a bomb exploding.” said a witness.

Kluivert revealed how he was put through hell by the unforgiving Dutch public. “One minute I was the idol of the public, the hero of Dutch football. And the next minute they slaughtered me because of what I had done.”

A year later, Kluivert, unable to handle the hate left Ajax to join Milan. He later had a hugely successful career at Barcelona and Newcastle United.

Bruno Fernandes de Souza

Brazilian goalkeeper Bruno Fernandes de Souza had been sentenced to 22 years in jail for ordering the murder of estranged girlfriend Eliza Samudio in 2010. The former Flamengo captain was found guilty by a jury of five women and two men at court.

He was convicted of hiding the model’s body, chopping it up into tiny pieces and feeding it to the dogs. He was also further convicted on charges of kidnapping his son. All this in the normal world would have seen Bruno being locked up for good.

However, Bruno was shockingly released in February pending an appeal. What was even more despicable was the fact that second tier club Boa Esporte immediately handed the shot-stopper a professional contract.

Bruno was not even repentant after his release. As quoted by the Guardian, Bruno said:

“Dude, what happened, happened. I made a mistake, a serious one, but mistakes happen in life – I’m not a bad guy. People tried to bury my dream because of one mistake, but I asked God for forgiveness, so I’m carrying on with my career, dude. I’m starting over.”


One can only hope that the Brazilian authorities and judicial system lock up the former Atletico Mineiro and Flamengo goalkeeper once again and give Eliza Samudio the justice she deserves.

Marco Alonso

Read more: https://pefda.com/4-popular-footballers-who-have-killed/