Televisa exec shot dead outside Mexico City while riding bike

MEXICO CITY: Adolfo Lagos, the head of struggling Mexican broadcaster Grupo Televisa’s telecoms unit izzi, was shot dead on Sunday on the outskirts of Mexico City, the state attorney general’s office said in a statement.

The attorney general’s office for the State of Mexico, which surrounds the capital, said it was investigating the homicide near the ancient Teotihuacan pyramids. It said Lagos was on a bicycle when he was shot. He died in hospital from his wounds.

Press reports said Lagos died after group of men tried to steal his bike. In his Twitter profile photo, Lagos is shown riding a bike. The attorney general’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

“Grupo Televisa profoundly laments the death of izzi Director Adolfo Lagos Espinosa that took place in the State of Mexico. Our condolences to his wife, daughters and family members,” the company wrote on Twitter.

izzi offers phone, internet and cable television services.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto took to Twitter to offer his condolences, saying that the federal attorney general’s office would help state prosecutors investigate.

The death of Lag os, a well-known former banker, is a fresh pain for Televisa, which is struggling with declining ad sales and tough competition from the widespread move to online video.

The company’s longtime chief executive will step down next year, the company said last month, and Televisa has also faced US allegations that it was among media companies that paid bribes to secure television rights for soccer matches.

The testimony came during the first trial to emerge from the US investigation of bribery surrounding FIFA, soccer’s world governing body. — Reuters