Jonathan Gómez broke down in tears as he told his story.
At 36, the midfielder who played for Racing, Rosario Central, Independiente Santa Fe and Deportivo Pasto admitted that he is a gambling addict and owes 50,000 dollars to an illicit betting platform. “I lost everything. My family is devastated”, he said in an interview with Marga TV.
It all started in 2020, when he returned from Brazilian football. According to his account, a teammate introduced him to the virtual casino on illegal websites. He played roulette, won three or four times at first, and then started losing. He summed it up himself: “This is a drug”.
He says he received death threats and that people connected to his creditors came to his parents’ house. He insists that he never stopped training because of gambling. But the heaviest toll is at home: “When I go to see my little ones, they cry and say to me: Why is Daddy leaving?”.
Today, he is in recovery and is trying to rebuild his relationships with his loved ones. He still doesn’t know whether he’ll be able to play football again.