The magazine also reported that Carlos Mario Jimenez, also known as "Macaco", may have interests in the Pereira club and had sought to buy Bogota's Millonarios, which was controlled in the 1980s by the violent associate of Pablo Escobar, Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha.

Other clubs named as possibly controlled by the paramilitaries included Envigado, Independiente Medellin and Cucuta Deportivo, which reached the finals of the Copa Libertadores this year.

"This is clear as daylight and everyone knows it," said Camargo.

"We have some teams who are being questioned and it's the government's job to end this situation, but all it does is act stupidly.

"Just to buy one share worth $50, one has to meet a number of requirements, show documents, declare earnings and show where the money comes from, but the paramilitaries are allowed to get away with massive irregularities."

The far-right death squads are in a peace process with the government that has seen more than 31,000 fighters demobilize.

Yet a scandal is widening over the illegal group's links to Colombia's business and political class with more than a dozen politicians in jail on charges of collaboration.