Former Peruvian footballer Jefferson Farfán publicly demanded that television host Magaly Medina and her lawyer, Fernando Ugaz, retract statements linking him to extortion threats Medina says she has received.
Farfán issued the demand in a statement posted to his Instagram stories on Sunday, September 14, in which he flatly denied any involvement in the threats and called on both Medina and Ugaz to correct their claims.
The statement came after Medina said the threats she received were connected to her ongoing feud with Farfán. During her television program, she said everything came from Farfán and that everything started with him. Ugaz, for his part, publicly described the former national team player as a suspected "mediate author" of the extortion, a theory he said would need to be confirmed by the relevant authorities.
Farfán denies being behind the threats
In the first part of his statement, Farfán categorically distanced himself from any responsibility for the messages Medina, a presenter on the Peruvian channel ATV, says she received.
He said he categorically rejected any link between himself and the threatening or extortive messages Medina claims to have received, adding that he had never ordered, coordinated or taken part, directly or indirectly, in any act meant to threaten her, pursue her or endanger her safety or that of her family.
Farfán said he condemned any form of extortion and called on the authorities to identify those truly responsible.
He also questioned Medina's claim that the threats came from him and her subsequent suggestion of links between footballers and criminal organisations. He said having been a professional footballer did not make him part of a criminal gang, nor did it give Medina the right to publicly suggest such a connection through a media outlet.
The former player also addressed Ugaz directly after the lawyer revealed that a complaint had been filed against Farfán and publicly labelled him a suspected "mediate author" of the threats. Farfán said filing a complaint did not turn what he called an outlandish hypothesis into the truth, nor did it authorise attributing criminal responsibility to a citizen without grounds.
Farfán demands public rectification
One of the strongest points in the statement came when Farfán revealed he was formally demanding a rectification from both Medina and Ugaz. He said he was demanding that Magaly Jesús Medina Vela and her lawyer, Ángel Fernando Ugaz Zegarra, immediately, freely, publicly and proportionally retract the claims made against him through the media, without prejudice to any legal responsibilities that may apply.
Farfán also denied that the legal proceedings he has pursued against Medina amount to persecution. He recalled that he first took legal action against her in 2019 for aggravated defamation and violation of privacy, and said both cases had resulted in final convictions. He said exercising his rights before the judiciary did not constitute persecution, harassment or a threat against Medina.
Legal dispute reaches new stage
The legal confrontation between Farfán and Medina is currently at another key stage. It recently emerged that Peru's judiciary will assess Medina's compliance with the conditions imposed on her following her conviction for violating privacy, while Farfán has asked for a review of the conversion of his own sentence.
What happens next
Farfán closed his statement by saying he would cooperate with any investigation carried out by Peru's Public Prosecutor's Office and the National Police of Peru to determine who is behind the threats reported by Medina.
He also confirmed that he had instructed his lawyers to evaluate further legal measures in response to accusations he considers damaging to his image. He said he had tasked his defence team with adopting the legal measures necessary to protect his honour and reputation, so that implausible accusations lacking evidentiary support would not be used to distract public opinion.
For now, no prosecutorial or judicial finding has established that Farfán is responsible for the threats or extortive messages reported by Medina. Medina and her legal team have presented their version to the authorities, while Farfán categorically denies any involvement and is now demanding a public rectification.
