Spanish striker Santi Mina, who was convicted in May 2017 of sexually assaulting a woman near Almería, has demanded that his Celta Vigo team “immediately return” him to the squad, the Spanish club said on Monday.
The club said in a statement that the 26-year-old, who has filed an appeal against the court decision, “demands his immediate return to team training.” Celta Vigo temporarily suspended the player from first-team training and took disciplinary action against him after he was sentenced to four years in prison last May for sexually harassing a woman in 2017.
The Almeria Court charged the player with “sexual harassment” and not “sexual assault”, a category that includes rape and requires proof of intimidation or violence under Spanish criminal law. The player was accused of events dating back to 2017, when he was a Valencia player and was vacationing in Mojácar near Almería with his friend, who is also a footballer, David Goldar.
According to the court decision, the incident occurred in a car near a nightclub, and Mina said that he would appeal against this decision, and therefore it is not final. Celta Vigo stated that it “reserves the right to demand, if the conviction is confirmed, that all damage caused by the player’s behavior, both economically and in terms of the club’s reputation, be repaid and respect his right of appeal from today “.