Roberto Román Valencia (10 February 1945 – 9 April 2020) was an Ecuadorian lawyer and sports journalist, known as El Fantasma ("the ghost"),[1] who had a long career in sports journalism in the written press, radio and television, for fifty years.
[2] He practiced sports journalism in various media, and was a lawyer by profession, as well as Technical Director.
[3] He was President of the Coaches Association and Director of the Out of Field (Fuera del Campo) Program (Founded on January 3, 1983).
[1][4] He was a member of the sports team that would make up El Canal del Fútbol, but this did not materialize due to the state of emergency that was declared in Ecuador in early 2020 as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As he was unable to find a place in a hospital due to the collapse of the health system in Guayaquil, his daughter Paola had to look for two portable oxygen tanks to help him breathe.