BOGOTA, (Reuters) – Santa Fe’s Uruguayan coach Ruben Israel resigned yesterday after being threatened with death if he did not quit, the Colombian club’s president Armando Farfan said.

Israel had yet to sit on the bench for a Santa Fe match, having only signed at the end of May for the team that did not qualify for the championship semi-final stage.

“Yesterday he received several calls with threats on his life and those of his family, calls we can’t understand because he hasn’t even stepped onto the grass in the stadium,” Farfan told reporters.

He said the club would meet with Israel to try to make him change his mind by offering him security guarantees.
He added the person that made the threatening calls claimed to be a member of hard core fans of Santa Fe, six-times champions but seeking their first title in 34 years.

Israel, 51, was appointed to replace former Colombia and Ecuador coach Hernan Dario Gomez, who quit after Santa Fe’s failure to reach the semi-finals. He led Libertad to Paraguayan league titles in 2007 and 2008.