The long-running case involving former Celta Vigo forward Santi Mina has reached a decisive point, with Spain’s Supreme Court upholding his four-year prison sentence for the sexual assault of a woman in July 2017.
Key takeaways
- Spain’s Supreme Court rejected Mina’s appeal and confirmed the four-year custodial sentence.
- The player was convicted in May 2022 by the High Court of Justice of Andalusia.
- The case concerned two non-consensual sexual acts committed in July 2017.
- Mina had been reported to the authorities in September 2021 before going to trial.
- His financial penalty has been reduced from €50,000 to €25,000.
Supreme Court confirms conviction
The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the original prison term will stand. Mina had challenged the verdict delivered in May 2022, when Andalusia’s High Court of Justice found him guilty of sexually assaulting a woman five years earlier.
In its ruling, the court said Mina took advantage of his closeness to the victim, the element of surprise and her circumstances to carry out two sexual acts without consent. It added that he stopped when he understood that continuing would require overcoming resistance through force.
The appeal ruling closes Mina’s challenge to the four-year sentence imposed following the 2017 incident.
Career fallout after the case
Mina was the subject of a complaint in September 2021 and was subsequently tried. Celta Vigo removed him from their first-team environment while proceedings were ongoing.
He spent the 2022-23 campaign on loan at Saudi club Al-Shabab, but Celta terminated his contract in August 2023 after the conviction.
While the prison sentence has been maintained in full, Mina successfully secured a reduction in the fine attached to the case. The original €50,000 payment has been cut by half, leaving a €25,000 penalty.
