Jesus Owono Yet to Decide on Football Future After Death of Jesus de Miguel

FC Andorra goalkeeper Jesus Owono has not yet decided whether he will return to football, his manager has said, after the death of Tenerife forward Jesus de Miguel.

The two players were involved in a collision during a Spanish second division match on 2 November. Owono was sent off for the incident. De Miguel died in hospital the following day.

Andorra manager Carles Manso gave an update on Owono's situation, according to BBC Sport. Manso said the 25-year-old is spending time with his family. He also said Owono is completely free to make any decision about whether to play again.

Owono had already spoken publicly. On 4 November, FC Andorra released a statement on his behalf in which he said he was going through the most difficult days of his life. The club has not set out a timeline for any decision, and Manso's comments suggest none has been made.

Football has a habit of carrying on, even when the people in it are not ready to. Andorra are due to play Almeria in the Spanish second division, their first match since de Miguel's death. It will be the first time the club has taken the field since the news, and it will come with the questions around Owono still open.

For anyone new to the sport, the sequence is simple to follow. Players collide in the course of a match, and occasionally a referee's decision removes one from the pitch for the rest of the game. That moment is painful enough in ordinary circumstances. Here, it has become something much heavier, and the people closest to it are being given time and space to decide what comes next.

The wider football world has reacted to de Miguel's death with sympathy for his family, his team-mates and his club, and for Owono. Clubs, fans and players in Spain and beyond will be watching how the coming weeks unfold, and how much room the people involved are given to grieve.

Owono is 25, and nothing about his future has been settled. His manager's message was that the choice belongs to him alone, and for now that is where the story rests.