Five football teams owned by Pablo Escobar and other Narcos in Colombia

In football, many teams have been owned by interesting figures, from state-owned, billionaire business owners, and clubs passed down through families.

In the late 80s and early 90s, Colombia had a problem with Narcos and Drug Traffickers, who had the money to run and operate anything they pleased.

These dangerous criminals were known for their love for football and decided to pump a lot of their illegal money into different clubs to make them the best they could be.

For some of these clubs, it was the most successful time of their history, but for many of their current owners, they would take all the trophies back to give Colombia the clean look it wants.

It has been rumored that Narcos have owned football teams for decades, but with the checks and balances in today's game, it's hard to believe Narcos are running football clubs these days.

Nevertheless, here are the five clubs owned and operated by Narcos in Colombia during the late 80s and early 90s.

Atletico Nacional is one of Colombia's most historic teams. In the late 80s and 90s, it was an open secret that Pablo Escobar was pumping money into the club, helping to bring exciting foreign players in and keeping the best players on their books.

Nacional reached the 1989 Copa Libertadores Final, mainly thanks to Escobar's influx of illegal cash. Maturana, Nacional manager from 1987 to 1990, said: "Our level of play took off. People saw our situation and said Pablo was involved. But they couldn't prove it."

Notorious Cali Cartel drug lord Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela was said to be bankrolling Cali's football team, America de Cali, in the 1990s.

Rodriguez's involvement with the team had a similar effect to how Nacional played under Escobar, winning the 1999 Copa Merconorte and remaining competitive in the domestic competitions.

Despite his clear rule over Atletico Nacional, in 1989, an incident happened at the Independiente Medellin game, showing Escobar's suspected influence over the team.

In one of the final games of the season, with Medellin near the top of the league, they drew a game 0-0, with a linesman flagging a goal for Medellin offside. It was reported Pablo Escobar had the linesman hunted down and killed, canceling the remainder of the fixtures.

Envigado FC is a team that plays in the second division of Colombian football and is nowhere near the level of the other clubs on this list.

Despite their lack of success, the club has come under scrutiny due to their alleged drug cartel links in recent years. They were put on the United States government's kingpin list of organizations owned by suspected drug lords.

Millonarios FC are a team based in the Colombian capital Bogota. They are one of the most dominant teams in the country, winning several league titles. However, they expressed how they wanted to give back two titles.

The titles were won in 1987 and 1988, while the club was owned by Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, a Medellin Cartel boss. In an interview with Caracol Radio, the president of the Millionaires said they wanted to give them back to clean up the sport in Colombia.