Narcoball: Football in Pablo Escobar's Colombia
From The Football Heritage Podcast by Football Heritage
March 29, 2026 · 1h 5m
About this episode
The episode discusses the intersection of football and organized crime in Pablo Escobar's Colombia, featuring insights from author David Arrowsmith.
107. Narcoball: Football in Pablo Escobar's Colombia We're joined by author David Arrowsmith to talk about the history of football in Pablo Escobar's Colombia - an era known as Narcoball. Throughout his life, Pablo Escobar had a deep love for football, especially the team he supported, Atlético Nacional. However, he also knew the power that it could bring him, and at his peak as a Narco-terrorist, he used football as a means to launder his dirty money. We discuss the defining events of the Narcoball era, as well as the legacy of Narco-terrorist involvement in Colombian football. About Us Website footballheritage.co.uk Email hello@footballheritage.co.uk X @_footyheritage BlueSky @footballheritage.bsky.social Instagram @_footyheritage YouTube @FootballHeritageFH Subscribe to The Footbal Heritage Extra on Patreon for £3 per month and get an additional podcast every Thursday. https://www.patreon.com/cw/FootyHeritage About Our Guest David Arrowsmith David is an author who’s writing focuses on the intersectionof organised crime, politics and football in South America. His first book, Narcoball, put the spotlight on football in Pablo Escobar’s Colombia, while his upcoming book,Killing…
People in this episode
Host: Football Heritage
Guest: David Arrowsmith
Topics covered
- Pablo Escobar
- Colombian football
- Narcoball
- organized crime
- football history
Keywords
- football
- Pablo Escobar
- Narcoball
- Colombia
- Atlético Nacional
- organized crime
- David Arrowsmith
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Atlético Nacional
Books & works: Narcoball, Killing Maradona
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