Father of Luis Diaz finally released after kidnapping

Luis Manuel Diaz, father of Liverpool forward Luis Diaz, has officially been released after his kidnapping in Colombia.

Luis Manuel Diaz is finally free after 13 days held hostage by Colombian militant group, ELN. Luis Manuel, father of Liverpool forward Luis Diaz, was kidnapped along with his wife.

While Luis Diaz's mother was released shortly afterwards, Luis Manuel has been missing ever since. It was discovered last week that it was the ELN who had him - but even their leaders denied knowledge that it had happened.

Negotiations have gone on ever since. Semana explain that despite talks with the Colombian government, it was actually the Catholic church and the United Nations who eventually found success.

Luis Manuel was handed over to the Catholic church on Thursday and you can see footage of that below:

He was released on a sidewalk of El Salado where he was immediately assessed by medics. They gave him the green light on his health - there doesn't appear to be anything to immediately concern.

It's been a traumatic period for the Diaz family, of course, with Luis Diaz eventually releasing a statement after scoring for Liverpool against Luton Town on Sunday. The player had been missing for the previous few games as he attempted to deal with the kidnapping.

But this appears to have a happy ending - if that's what you call it. Luis Diaz has both of his parents back and in good health but it's unlikely they'll truly be over something like this anytime soon.

It's unprecedented for such a high-profile football player to endure something like this and it's quite astonishing that Diaz was able to actually play under an international spotlight while going through all of this. Thankfully, it's now over for the family.

The relief and respect for them will be felt everywhere.