Dad of Argentine Soccer Star Tevez Freed After Kidnapping

By Pablo Gonzalez  

Photographer: Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images

Carlos Tevez of Juventus looks on during a match between Torino FC and Juventus at... Read More

Juventus Football Club SpA soccer player Carlos Tevez’s adoptive father was freed by kidnappers after being held for eight hours, Gustavo Galazzo, a legal adviser for the family, told reporters in Buenos Aires today.
Segundo Tevez was abducted at 5 a.m. in Moron, a suburb west of the capital Buenos Aires, Galazzo said. The kidnappers called twice asking the family for money, newspaper Clarin reported, citing police officials it didn’t identify.
A ransom of 400,000 pesos ($48,831) was paid to the kidnappers, the Buenos Aires-based newspaper said, citing the same officials. Security Secretary Sergio Berni said the ransom was paid adhering to the country’s security protocol.
Tevez, a 30-year-old striker known as the Apache for the poor neighborhood where he grew up, had left the Juventus training camp in Italy to fly home to Buenos Aires earlier today and canceled his trip after being told his father had been freed, Buenos Aires Province Governor Daniel Scioli said.

“It was a random kidnapping that began when the criminals stole his car, and decided to abduct him after realizing he was Tevez’s father,” Scioli said in a an interview with C5N TV station. “Now we’re going to look for those responsible.”

Olympic Medal

Federico Delgado, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, was not immediately available to take calls, a court clerk said when contacted by Bloomberg News for comment.
Tevez, who played for Argentina’s national soccer team in the 2006 and 2010 World Cup tournaments after winning an Olympic gold medal in 2004, was champion with Argentine Club Atletico Boca Juniors, Brazil’s Corinthians, Manchester United Plc (MANU) of the Premier League in England and Juventus last season.
Tevez’s biological mother abandoned him when he was six months old and his biological father was killed when he was 5 years old. His father was shot 23 times in a neighborhood incident.
Tevez was then adopted by Segundo Tevez.
“You taught me to be a man,” Tevez tweeted to his father on March 15. “My sadnesses and my achievements are yours. I love you old man! Happy birthday.”