Yowch! Soccer fan honors slain hero with full body jersey tattoo

Here’s Felipe Alvarez, a 25-year-old Colombian soccer fan who is receiving a full body tattoo of an Atletico Nacional jersey. OK, who’s going to break it to him that the team is completely changing its kit next season? Just kidding, they’re not. The tattoo jersey, complete with the No. 2 on his back, is in honor of the late Colombian soccer star Andres Escobar, who was shot and killed after scoring an own goal in the 1994 World Cup. More photos here.
Escobar was murdered — some say by disgruntled Colombian fans, some say by members of a betting syndicate — outside of a bar in his home town of Medellin a few days following the game, a 2-1 loss to the U.S. Humberto Munoz Castro was convicted of the murder in 1995, and served 11 years of a 43 year sentence. Alvarez displayed his permanent ink jersey the next day at a game in which Escobar was honored. It’s kind of a protest against sports fanaticism by engaging in another kind of sports fanaticism, which is weird. But it’s good that Escobar’s memory is being kept alive.
Video of the tattoo process here.
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Felipe Alvarez Gets Body Tattoo Of Andres Escobar Jersey [Huffington Post]