Colombian star Faustino Asprilla fired two gunshots into the air - apparently blanks - while jokingly urging his Universidad de Chile team-mates to try harder during a training session.

The club's president, Rene Orozco, confirmed the incident. But he said "it was just a joke, there were blank shots and it was not a real pistol".

Orozco angrily rejected suggestions by local radio reports that Asprilla was drunk at the time of the incident, around 9am local time.

Asprilla, injured and unable to practice, arrived at training and drew a gun and fired twice, urging his team-mates to run and work harder.

Radio reporter Juan Luis Valdes said the shots were apparently blanks, as no bullet shells were found.

He said Asprilla left the training camp immediately after the shooting.

Coach Victor Castaneda and the other players refused to comment on the incident.

Castaneda said only that Asprilla had been spared from the weekend match and Monday's session because he was recovering from an unspecified leg injury.

Asprilla signed a six-month contract in January with Universidad.

At 33, he has occasionally shown some brilliant play and scored several key goals for the team.

In September 2000, Brazilian club Palmeiras rescinded Asprilla's contract after he was arrested in his hometown of Tulua, Colombia and accused of possessing and firing an illegal weapon, a .38 calibre pistol.

In 1995, he grabbed headlines for pumping several pistol rounds into the air outside a hotel disco in the Caribbean resort of Cartagena.

Asprilla played in the 1994 and 1998 World Cups, for Parma of Italy, Newcastle of England and several Latin American teams. His previous contract was with the Mexican side Atlante.

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