Former Rangers player Arnold Peralta shot dead in Honduras

A former Rangers midfielder has been shot dead in his hometown in Honduras.

Arnold Peralta, who was a player on the Honduras national team, was found dead in the car park of a shopping centre in La Ceiba.

The 26-year-old played with Rangers for 18 months, helping them win the 2013-14 Scottish League One title but left in January, returning home to play for Club Deportivo Olimpia.

He scored a spectacular free-kick in his first appearance for Rangers, in a friendly at Dundee.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=zTW4uH7OAag%3Frel%3D0

He had won 24 caps for his country and played at both the 2014 World Cup and the 2012 London Olympics.

His father Carlos told a news conference he was devastated.

He said: “This is terrible. They killed my exemplary son. I can’t say more because of the pain I feel.”

The Honduran Ministry of Security said the car park had its own private security and robbery had been ruled out as a motive because the victim had not been stripped of his belongings.

Osman Madrid, director of the Honduran national football federation, said, “This is a tragic death that the national sport mourns.”

Peralta’s club has also expressed its sympathies online.