Kidnappers target mothers of soccer stars

updated 1:29 p.m. ET May 14, 2005

SAO PAULO, Brazil - A wave of kidnappings has hit Brazilian soccer, but the players aren’t the targets — it’s their mothers.

The mothers of five Brazilian players have been abducted since November, including those of all-star strikers Robinho and Luis Fabiano. Athletes are scared, and looking for new ways to protect their families.

“We need to be careful,” Sao Paulo striker Diego Tardelli said. “It’s clear that the kidnappers are after soccer players and their families.”

For years, soccer players seemed to be considered off limits to kidnappers. But that changed in November, when the mother of Santos striker Robinho was kidnapped from a family gathering.

She was freed unharmed five weeks later after Robinho paid a ransom reportedly of $81,000, a lot of money in a country where the minimum wage is $121 a month.

“The kidnappers pursue those with a lot of money, it doesn’t really matter who they are,” said Joel Antonio dos Santos, a police investigator with Sao Paulo’s anti-kidnapping unit. “They began targeting players’ mothers because they realized that it was a lucrative deal. Robinho paid the ransom, and now it has become trendy to go after the players’ money.”

Since Robinho’s mother was abducted, four other kidnappings have occurred in Sao Paulo state. Last Thursday, the mother of FC Porto striker Luis Fabiano was released after more than 60 days in captivity.

“It was like being born again,” Fabiano’s mother, Sandra Helena Clemente, told the Diario de S. Paulo newspaper. “I don’t have words to describe how happy I am after two months of a lot of desperation.”

The mother of Corinthians defender Marinho was abducted on May 3 in Santos, and is still missing.

“This is a very difficult situation,” Marinho said in a statement after the kidnapping. “I hope to be talking to you again very soon, but with my mom at my side.”

In March, police freed the mother of Sporting Lisbon defender Rogerio three days after she was abducted from her home in Campinas, near Sao Paulo. A month earlier, the mother of Sao Paulo striker Grafite was kidnapped near Sao Paulo, but freed by police after a day.

“All these kidnappings got a lot of attention, it’s natural that players started becoming wary of the situation,” investigator Santos said. “It has suddenly become a reality for them.”

About three-quarters of the world’s kidnappings occur in Latin America, according to experts, with the bulk occurring in Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. The mother of Detroit Tigers pitcher Ugueth Urbina was abducted last September in Venezuela and was held captive for over five months before police rescued her.

Robinho was the only player to pay a ransom. In all other cases, police found and freed the mothers before a ransom was paid.

Nine people have been arrested in connection with the Brazilian kidnappings, authorities said. But many players are taking their own precautions.

Robinho, reportedly bound for Real Madrid next season, now goes everywhere with two bodyguards by his side. To protect his mother, the striker bought her an armor-plated car.

Luis Fabiano planned to move his entire family to a safer neighborhood in Campinas, and several players — including Corinthians’ Argentine international Carlos Tevez — have hired private security guards for themselves and their relatives.

Even players abroad have shown concern.

Claudio Pitbull, Fabiano’s teammate at Porto, said the threat of kidnapping was one of the reasons he recently rejected an offer to play for five-time national champion Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro.

He told Flamengo’s official Web site that “it would be an honor to play for Flamengo, but the risk of playing in Brazil is too great.”

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