Emiliano Martinez has been accused of assaulting a cameraman at full-time after Argentina’s 2-1 World Cup qualifier defeat by Colombia.
James Rodriguez’s second-half penalty saw the reigning World Cup winners slide to a home defeat on Tuesday.
But it was an incident after the game that sparked controversy when goalkeeper Martinez appeared to slap a camera away from his face, causing the operator to fall to the ground.
The cameraman in question, Jhonny Jackson, has since spoken to Colombian media and said he was left ‘very angry’ by the ordeal.
‘Out of the blue he slapped me,’ Jackson told RCN Deportes. ‘I was working, just like he was. He was playing and I was shooting with my camera.’
Asked to send a message to Golden Glove winner Martinez, he added: ‘Dibu, my brother, how are you? I am Jhonny Jackson, the cameraman you assaulted in the match against Colombia.
‘I wanted to tell you it is all good, my brother. Everyone has lost a match in their life. This defeat clearly meant a lot to you. But look ahead, Dibu.’
Meanwhile, Colombia’s association of sports journalists, ACORD, slammed the Aston Villa star for his ‘attack on freedom of expression’ and called on FIFA to punish the 32-year-old.
‘ACORD strongly rejects the act of aggression by Emiliano Martinez, goalkeeper of the Argentine team towards a cameraman at the end of the qualifying match in Barranquilla,’ president Faiver Hoyos Hernandez said.
‘Slapping the cameraman’s hand to throw the elements onto the grass is an attack on freedom of expression that our union does not admit.
‘Colombia is a country in which the freedom to inform is respected, in this way we ask the Colombian Football Federation to speak out before CONMEBOL, the AFA and FIFA.
‘As the country’s journalistic authority, it demands that FIFA generate an exemplary sanction against Mr. Emiliano Martinez, who is no role model for new generations.’
Neither Argentina or South American governing body CONMEBOL have issued a statement addressing the incident.
Martinez is expected back in action for Villa on Saturday when they host Everton. Unai Emery’s side have two wins and one loss from their first three Premier League fixtures.
