Rafa Mir Shares Statement After Being Sentenced to 8 1/2 Years in Jail

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Hal is an Arsenal and Three Lions fan, but keeps an eye on the All Blacks, his favourite rugby team, having grown up in New Zealand. Sign in to your GiveMeSport account Spanish footballer Rafa Mir has been sentenced to eight and a half years. The 28-year-old has been on the books at Sevilla since 2021, although spent last season on loan at Elche.

He was tried on 28 May on charges of sexual assault and causing bodily harm, and has now been found guilty by a Valencia court. The striker is known in England, having spent three years at Wolves between 2018 and 2021, during which time he also spent a season on loan at Nottingham Forest when both clubs were still in the Championship.

Mir and his friend and fellow footballer Pablo Jara were both arrested in September 2024 after two women accused them of sexual assault at Mir's residence. Jara was also sentenced to two years in prison for sexual assault and a further six months for an offence against moral integrity, as well as ordering him to pay a €6,280 fine.

In a statement confirming that Mir had been found guilty, a Valencia court announced on Monday, via ESPN:

"The Fourth Section of the Valencia Court has sentenced the footballer of Elche CF, and formerly of Valencia CF, to eight and a half years in prison. He was tried on 28 May on charges of sexual assault and causing bodily harm."

Mir will also have to pay €64,000 as compensation to the victim.

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The sentence is not final, however, and Mir has confirmed that he will appeal. He maintained his innocence during the one-day hearing in Valencia on 28 May, insisting the two women consented to having sexual relations with him.

After the ruling, he posted on Instagram:

"I do not agree with the ruling and we will appeal in the coming days. I still have faith in the justice system."

Sevilla have released their own statement, condemning 'any type of violence, abuse, or sexual assault'. In full, the statement read:

"On the ruling of the Provincial Court of Valencia regarding Rafa Mir.

"The club, in light of the judgment issued by Section Four of the Provincial Court of Valencia in which footballer Rafa Mir, currently on loan at Elche CF until June 30, is sentenced to eight and a half years, states its utmost respect for judicial proceedings and expresses our firm and unequivocal condemnation of any type of violence, abuse, or sexual assault.

"Such conduct has no place in our society or in the values promoted by sport."

Mir was playing on loan at Valencia from Sevilla at the time when the crime is alleged to have taken place, while Jara was with lower division club Alcantarilla FC.