10 football players with criminal records

Rene Higuita showcasing his famous Scorpion Kick.

Rene Higuita

While Rene ‘El Loco’ Higuita is credited for creating the Scorpion Kick, he is also infamous for being involved in a kidnapping deal – something that is very prevalent among drug cartels in Colombia.

What made the story much more dramatic was the fact that drug barons Pablo Escobar and Carlos Molina were also involved. Higuita acted as the go-between and delivered the ransom money to secure the release of Molina’s daughter, for which he was paid more than $60,000. But Colombian law prohibits anyone from profiting from kidnapping and Higuita was imprisoned.

As a result, he was not fit to play in the 1994 World Cup. When he was asked about the case, he said, “I’m a footballer, I didn’t know anything about kidnapping laws.”