A disturbing video captured the moment an Argentine soccer legend allegedly assaulted his estranged wife as one of their two sons looked on in horror.
Leaked surveillance footage, which was leaked on Thursday, seemingly showed Nestor Ortigoza, 39, charging at Lucia Cassiau, 35, and smacking a cell phone of her hand at their home in Ezeiza, a city outside Buenos Aires.
A video taken by Cassiau’s phone also shows him hitting the phone before falling to the ground.
As the surveillance video goes on, Ortigoza then appeared to strike her face and pushed her into a wall.
Ortigoza then berated her shortly before she walked over to her son and hugged him.
Argentine soccer legend Nestor Ortigoza (right) was seen on a surveillance video allegedly assaulting his estranged wife Lucía Cassiau (left). Ortigoza has been asked by San Lorenzo to resign from his board member spot
Nestor Ortigoza (bottom left) menacingly walks toward Lucia Cassiau, his now-estranged wife and the mother of their two children, during a domestic violence dispute that allegedly took place in 2023
Both appeared before the Ezeiza prosecutor’s office and pressed charges against each other.
The prosecutor’s office is investigating the former footballer for domestic violence, while Cassiau is facing allegations of child maltreatment.
A video from another violent incident showed Ortigoza dribbling a soccer ball with one of the couple’s two sons in the backyard of a residence.
It seemed that Cassiau and Ortigoza had been arguing prior to the recording and she tells Ortigoza, ‘Shut up because the child is here.’
Ortigoza responded by kicking a ball that knocked the phone off Cassiau’s hand and hit her in the face.
A source with knowledge of the case told online news portal Infobae that the domestic violence incidents took place in 2023.
A video taken by Cassiau’s phone also shows him hitting the phone before falling to the ground
Nestor Ortigoza is recorded kicking a soccer ball that would eventually knock the cell phone off the hands of his now-estranged wife, Lucia Cassiau. The ball also hit her in the face
In light of the videos, the San Lorenzo governing board called on Ortigoza to step down from his board member post.
He was fired as sporting director in August due to issues surrounding the signing of a player.
‘Following the publicly known facts that link him to situations of gender-based violence, the majority ruling bloc of the San Lorenzo Board of Directors decides to demand that (manager) Néstor Ezequiel Ortigoza resign from his position, since his actions do not represent the values that our institution upholds,’ the team said in a statement.
Nestor Ortigoza played two stints for Argentine club San Lorenzo. He retired following the 2022 season and was named to the team’s board of directors and later sporting director
Nestor Ortigoza (right) with his now-estranged wife Lucía Cassiau (left) and one of their two sons
Ortigoza, a native of San Antonio de Padua, a town in the Buenos Aires province, was a member of Paraguay’s national team that appeared at the 2010 World Cup.
He carved out a stellar career in the Argentine soccer league, spending two stints with San Lorenzo.
He led the club to their first-ever Copa Libertadores title in 2014, scoring the game-winning goal in the final.
Ortigoza retired with San Lorenzo in 2022 and was named to its board of directors in December 2023.
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