FILE – The president of the Bolivian Football Federation (FBF), Cesar Salinas (L), and the head of South American Football Confederation Conmebol, Paraguayan Alejandro Dominguez, attend a ceremony in which the FBF took possession of the land where it will build the national team headquarters in La Paz, on October 3, 2019. (Photo by AIZAR RALDES / AFP)
The president of the Bolivian Football Federation (FBF), Cesar Salinas, died Sunday after being hospitalized with COVID-19 earlier this month, officials said.
The federation confirmed his death in a statement that highlighted his “dedication and commitment to national and international football.”
Salinas, 58, had chaired the FBF since 2018.
He was a director of The Strongest in La Paz, a century-old Bolivian soccer institution. His wife, head of the same club, also tested positive for COVID-19.
“My condolences to the family and friends of Cesar Salinas, president of the Bolivian Football Federation. They have all my support in these hard times,” wrote the interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Anez, on Twitter.
The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) said: “Conmebol and the South American soccer family deeply regret the death.”
Salinas had recently met with authorities to plan restarting football in Bolivia after the virus shutdown. With 11 million inhabitants, Bolivia has registered 58,136 cases and 2,106 deaths.