FC Juárez forward Diego Chávez has passed away at 28, with the Liga MX side saying a car accident claimed his life early Wednesday morning.
A report from the El Paso Times said that Chávez collided with a road sign in Ciudad Juárez and was trapped inside his car. Per Telemundo 48 El Paso, firefighters and police attempted to free Chávez from the vehicle, but could not save his life.
“With deep sadness we inform the entire FC Juárez community that our player Diego ‘El Puma’ Chávez died early this morning on Feb. 14 in a car accident,” read a club statement posted on the social media platform X. “During his time at FC Juárez, El Puma was characterized by his joy, enthusiasm, simplicity, and willingness, as well as his spirit of dedication and love for our colors.”
Gracias, Puma, el #13 se queda para siempre entre nosotros. 🕊️🖤 pic.twitter.com/MMGNkkt5wM
— FC Juárez (@fcjuarezoficial) February 14, 2024
Chávez spent the bulk of his career in Mexico, including two spells with Juárez. The forward appeared 92 times for Veracruz, and spent time with Toluca and Necaxa as well. In recent years he had spent time playing in Spain with Salamanca, and for CA Manucci in Peru before returning to Liga MX last year.
He had appeared in 19 of Juárez’s 23 matches across the Apertura 2023 and Clausura 2024 campaigns, last playing in a 2-1 loss at Atlas on January 29.
At the time of publication, Liga MX and Juárez had not announced whether Saturday’s home match against Puebla or any other games will be rescheduled.
