Liverpool Fly Luis Diaz’s Parents To England After Kidnap Saga

Premier League club Liverpool have flown the parents of Luis Diaz and other members of his family to the United Kingdom ahead of the Christmas holiday.

Liverpool decided to bring the family of Luis Diaz closer to the winger after the footballer’s parents were kidnapped in their home country, Colombia.

Recall that Luis Diaz’s parents, Luis Manuel Diaz (father) and Cilenis Marulanda (mother), were kidnapped by Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group in October.

Hours after the kidnap, they released Diaz’s mother but kept his father in their custody for over 13 days. It took a global outcry and a military search before his father regained freedom.

Due to the kidnap, the Liverpool winger missed a Premier League game and dedicated his goal against Luton on November 5, to his father by displaying a T-shirt that read “freedom for papa”.

Luis Diaz reunited with his parents for the first time after the kidnap during the November international break earlier this week.

On November 17, Diaz scored twice to help Colombia defeat Brazil in a 2026 World Cup qualifying game, with his father watching from the stands.

To assist Diaz, Liverpool chartered a plane on Friday to transfer his parents and other members of his family to Merseyside to provide post-traumatic support to them.

Hence, Diaz is expected to return to Merseyside to link up with his family after Colombia’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification game against Paraguay on Tuesday.