Ecuador’s senior football team is facing disciplinary action against some of its senior players after they reportedly took Chelsea wonderkid Kendry Paez, who is only 16 years old, to a strip club in New York
Reports from DailyMail says the Ecuadorian national federation has issued a threat to remove senior players from their squad following an incident involving Chelsea’s 16-year-old wonderkid Kendry Paez, who was taken to a strip club in New York during the international break.
Videos circulating on social media show Ecuadorian players celebrating in nightclubs and bars in New York, believed to be after Ecuador’s 2-0 friendly victory against Guatemala on Friday.
What actually happened?
Despite being underage, Chelsea’s £17 million signing Kendry Paez was reportedly taken to a New York strip club by his Ecuadorian senior players.
Footage from social media showed Paez signing a shirt in a restaurant, while another clip featured Chelsea’s £115 million signing Moises Caicedo, along with Jeremy Sarmiento, José Cifuentes, John Yeboah, and Willian Pacho celebrating at the TAO restaurant after Ecuador’s 2-0 friendly win over Guatemala.
How did Caicedo get involved?
In the video, Moises Caicedo was seen dancing under a sign reading ‘Ecuador in the house.’ Additional footage showed Kendry Paez accompanying teammates Robert Arboleda and Gonzalo Plata to a strip club, sparking controversy due to Paez’s status as a minor, as the law prohibits anyone under 21 from being present in such establishments.
The senior players now risk jeopardizing their national team careers.
#Breaking: Leaked video shows that various Ecuador National team players were out partying in NYC before their 2-0 loss to Italy on Sunday..
The videos circulating also show Kendry Paez (16-year-old) attending an adult nightclub with his fellow teammates.#Players involved are:… pic.twitter.com/9yRauu0dMn
— 💥 BlueCo Xtra (@Bluecoxtra) March 26, 2024
Sao Paulo’s Robert Arboleda faced criticism after a clip surfaced showing him throwing cash at a stripper, with Paez seen beside him. The emergence of these videos followed Ecuador’s 2-0 friendly defeat against Italy on Sunday.
The Ecuadorian national federation confirmed that players were granted free time following their win over Guatemala two days prior. However, the federation condemned the behavior depicted in the footage, stating that it goes against their ‘values and principles.’ They also warned that the senior players involved risksv jeopardizing their future call-ups to the national team.
Ecuador football federation statement
The Ecuador Football Federation stated that the images depicting events contrary to their values and principles will be analyzed for future calls. They reiterated their commitment to Ecuadorian soccer.
Arboleda responded to the scandal on social media, sarcastically saying, “From now on, on my free days, I will just start reading the Bible because one can’t even have fun ohhhhhhhhh I promise.”
His teammate Plata, who plays for Qatari side Al-Sadd, responded to criticism by writing, “They don’t like anything, it’s bad to have fun,” in a now-deleted post.
Both Arboleda and Plata have previously faced sanctions from the Ecuador Football Federation for breaches of disciplinary rules.
They were among five players suspended by the national team after partying the night before a match with Argentina in 2017. Arboleda was also involved in a party on the 17th floor of a hotel during the 2019 Copa America.
Plata, a 23-year-old winger, had previously been involved in controversy after injuring two people in a car accident in 2021. At the time, he played for Real Valladolid in Spain and was found to have been more than twice over the drink-drive limit.
Kendry Paez has been seen as a rising star in Ecuador, making strides in his football career.
