Referee report and match footage examined after Tenerife striker’s death

A judicial investigation has been opened into the death of Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel following his collision with FC Andorra goalkeeper Jesus Lazaro Ferrer Ounou during a Segunda Division match.

De Miguel died on Tuesday morning from the consequences of the impact, which happened late in the game between the two sides. The inquiry was launched by the on-duty Court of First Instance in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Jose Luis Sanchez Jauregui, the public prosecutor for Santa Cruz de Tenerife province, said prosecutors would not begin proceedings on their own initiative unless they received a criminal complaint. He added that the competition committee was responsible for deciding on sanctions relating to incidents inside the stadium.

The prosecutor said the referee’s report, together with video footage of the collision, would be important in establishing exactly what happened. The evidence will help determine whether Ounou’s challenge went beyond what was permitted while contesting the ball, or whether it was an incident arising from a normal challenge between the two players.

He said the investigation could consider whether there had been a possible offence of causing death through recklessness, if the evidence showed that the necessary legal conditions had been met. Legal sources said the images and the referee’s account could provide an important basis for assessing the incident and deciding whether criminal responsibility should be considered.

Sources at the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands said any death that was not attributed to natural causes required a judicial investigation. They described this as the standard procedure in cases involving a judicial death, whether caused by an accident or by other circumstances.

Referee described ‘excessive force’

Referee Manuel Angel Perez Hernandez’s report provided further details of the collision, which took place in stoppage time. He described the intervention by the FC Andorra goalkeeper as involving “excessive force” and recorded a straight red card for Ounou in the 90th minute.

According to the report, the dismissal followed a collision with an opposing player after the goalkeeper suddenly raised his leg with excessive force while both players competed for the ball.

De Miguel had been running to meet a long pass when Ounou left his penalty area to challenge for it. The collision sent the Tenerife forward to the ground and prompted an urgent response from the medical staff.

Although Perez Hernandez referred to the force of the challenge, his report did not state which part of the goalkeeper’s body made contact with De Miguel or identify the location of the injury. It also did not suggest that Ounou had deliberately tried to hurt him, limiting its description to the raised leg and the force involved in the joint attempt to reach the ball.

The referee said De Miguel received treatment on the pitch before being taken away on a stretcher. He also noted that no medical certificate had been provided when the report was closed. That reflected the information available to the officials at the time and was not a medical assessment of the severity of the injury or the cause of death.

The associated fixture listings showed CD Badajoz in the Copa del Rey on 04 November 2026, Tenerife against Andorra in the Segunda Division on 08 November 2026, and Mallorca.