As of late, Keylor Navas has been enjoying arguably the best run of his Paris Saint-Germain career. But off the pitch, there is quite a bit of turmoil.
Navas recently joined national team counterparts Bryan Ruiz and Celso Borges in a defamation lawsuit against several former Costa Rican national team officials.
The PSG goalkeeper, Ruiz, and Borges were accused of aspiring to throw matches in order to force the firing of now-former Costa Rican national team manager Jorge Luis Pinto in 2014. The trio of players had in mind losing three consecutive matches in an effort to trigger an alleged clause in Pinto’s contract that with such defeats in a row, he would be fired.
Former Costa Rican Football Federation President Eduardo Li (via AS) spoke earlier this week at the trial about the bombshell claims.
“We had a meeting and they said they were not happy with Jorge Luis Pinto continuing to be the manager for the national team,” Li said. “So if necessary, they would purposely lose three games so Pinto could be sacked.”
As expected, Navas denied the accusations placed against him.
“I am very surprised about this accusation,” Navas said. “As a player, you would never say such a thing and I never said that to Li. We are professional footballers and I have honor and prestige.”
Pinto ended up leaving the Costa Rican national team in 2014 to manage Honduras. On the other hand, Li wound up being banned for life by FIFA three years later over a bribery scandal.
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