Ecuador was defeated by Italy 2-0 on Sunday in a match played at New York Red Bulls stadium in New Jersey. It was a tight contest with the Italians scoring in the 3rd and 93rd minute of the match, despite Ecuador outshooting Italy 10-9.
In what should have been a normal national team camp, images and videos have begun to surface on social media of three Ecuadorian national teamers at what appears to be a strip club. The players in question are Kendry Páez (Independiente del Valle and underage at 16), Gonzalo Plata (Al- Sadd), and Robert Arboleda (São Paulo).
According to Los Andes the incident took place on Friday when the team had the afternoon off, apparently the trio of players entered a strip club and enjoyed the afternoon with a dancer at their table. Arboleda is front and center in the video with a roll of money as another player is getting a “lap dance”.
Ecuadorian federation issues statement on strip club incident
The Ecuadorian soccer federation has issued a statement following the images surfacing online, “Images of events contrary to the values and principles that we defend and promote as an institution have come to light, which will be the subject of analysis for future call-ups.”
The statement confirms that the events in question took place between the hours of 2PM and 8:30PM on Friday March 23rd.
Ecuador will next face Argentina in a friendly match as a warmup to the Copa America on June 9th in Chicago. Then Ecuador will participate in Group B of the 2024 Copa America against Mexico, Venezuela, and Jamaica.
