Jesus Owono Speaks After On-Field Collision Kills Tenerife Forward
FC Andorra goalkeeper Jesus Owono says he can’t yet process the death of Tenerife forward Jesus De Miguel, who died after the pair collided during a match on Monday. Owono’s first public statement, released by his club on Wednesday, described the days since as the hardest of his life. The statement came while attention around the incident was growing, but Owono made clear that his thoughts were still with De Miguel and those closest to him.
That distinction matters. A public response from a player involved in a fatal collision can quickly become a focal point for questions about what happened, even as those involved are still absorbing the loss. Owono’s words offer no account of the collision itself; they describe his state of mind and his concern for the people grieving. For now, that is the limit of what he chose to address.
De Miguel went into cardiac arrest after the collision at midfield and was taken to intensive care. He died on Tuesday morning. Owono said his attention was with De Miguel and those mourning him, while acknowledging that questions about the incident would follow. In the immediate aftermath of a death during a match, questions are inevitable, but their presence doesn’t mean the people at the center of the event are ready to answer them.
“I struggle to find the words, and I find it very hard to process what has happened,” Owono said. “I know there will be many questions to address, and I will face whatever comes with the utmost respect. But right now, honestly, I cannot think about anything other than Jesus and the pain we are experiencing. Rest in peace, Jesus.”
The statement is restrained, and that restraint is telling. Owono acknowledges that scrutiny lies ahead without trying to settle the circumstances in public. This is more significant than it looks: in a moment when speculation can outrun confirmed information, a statement centered on grief sets a clear boundary around what he can speak to now.
Abuse prompts support for players
Owono deactivated his Instagram account on Tuesday after receiving abusive comments, including messages calling him a “murderer.” The episode shows how quickly a tragic sporting incident can be reduced online to a target and an accusation, before the facts have been fully addressed. An account’s disappearance also closes off a direct channel through which supporters may have followed the goalkeeper, though the source does not say whether he plans to return.
FC Andorra said it was making psychological support available to anyone at the club who needed it after De Miguel’s death. That response recognizes that the effects of a fatal incident can extend beyond the two players involved. Teammates, staff and others connected to a club may also be dealing with shock and grief; making support available gives people a route to seek help without requiring them to explain their needs publicly.
Andorra centre back Lautaro Spatz spoke up for his teammate, saying Owono was deeply affected and would never deliberately hurt anyone. Spatz also sent condolences to De Miguel’s family and Tenerife, adding that football incidents can have consequences no one expects. His comments address two parts of the aftermath at once: the need to support a teammate facing abuse and the loss being mourned by the opposing club and De Miguel’s family.
That said, public reassurance and investigation serve different purposes. Spatz’s defense is a personal statement about Owono’s character, not an account of how the collision happened. The distinction matters when emotion is high and online messages turn a tragic outcome into a verdict on intent. Owono’s own statement, meanwhile, leaves room for questions to be addressed later.
The Equatoguinean Football Federation also voiced support for Owono, saying the 25-year-old was experiencing profound sorrow and grief. He has made 47 international appearances for Equatorial Guinea. The federation’s response shows that the distress around the incident reaches beyond the club environment: Owono is also an international player whose national football community is publicly standing with him.
Separately, Can Vidalet goalkeeper Michel Owono said he had received racist abuse from people who mistook him for the Andorra goalkeeper. That confusion widened the harm beyond the people directly connected to the match, with abuse reaching someone who was misidentified. (And this is the part most people overlook.) Online targeting can spread through mistaken identity as well as through deliberate attempts to confront the person at the center of a story.
Investigation opened
Spanish national police have opened a routine investigation into De Miguel’s death. The available account gives no further findings, and it would be premature to treat the investigation as an explanation of the collision. Its existence means the incident is being examined through an official process, while the personal and club responses continue alongside it.
For Owono, by his own account, the immediate focus remains the loss and the grief shared by those close to the Tenerife forward. His acknowledgment that questions will follow suggests he understands that public attention won’t end with his statement. But there is a difference between recognizing that scrutiny is coming and being able to engage with it while mourning.
What the aftermath means for both clubs
For clubs, an incident like this brings several responsibilities into view at once: supporting people affected by the death, responding to abuse, and allowing questions about the event to be handled with care. FC Andorra has said psychological support is available to anyone at the club who needs it, while Spatz and the Equatoguinean federation have spoken in Owono’s support. Those actions don’t resolve the grief, but they make clear that his response is being treated as a human matter as well as a public one.
If you're working in football, the episode is a reminder that the consequences of a match can reach well beyond the final whistle. Players can become subjects of intense attention before they have had time to understand what happened, and a false identification can bring another person into the same wave of abuse. The facts here are limited, but the pressures surrounding the people involved are already visible.
And yet. The central fact remains De Miguel’s death, and no statement from a teammate or governing body can make that loss smaller. Owono’s words leave the next questions for later, while his attention stays with the person who died and those left to mourn him.
