Spanish footballer Rafa Mir sentenced to 8½ years in prison for sexual assault

A court in Valencia has sentenced Spanish footballer Rafa Mir to eight and a half years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman at his home in Bétera in August 2024. The 28-year-old striker, on loan at Elche from Sevilla, was also ordered to pay €64,000 in compensation and can appeal the ruling. “I disagree with the ruling and we will appeal in the coming days. I continue to have faith in the justice system,” Mir posted on Instagram.

Incident and arrest

Mir and fellow footballer Pablo Jara met two women at a nightclub in Valencia on the night of 31 August 2024 and continued the party at Mir’s house in the Torre en Conill urbanisation. According to the court, Mir sexually assaulted one of the women in the pool and in a bathroom. The victim testified that she was crying, struggling to breathe, and repeatedly asked him to stop. A neighbour walking his dog alerted security guards after seeing a nearly naked woman crying in the street; the guards then called police. Three local police officers attended the scene, but their exculpatory account of events was later rejected by the court, which has now ordered an investigation into whether they gave false testimony. Mir spent two nights in custody following his arrest in September 2024.

Trial and conviction

After a trial on 28 May 2026, the Fourth Section of the Valencia Provincial Court convicted Mir of sexual assault and assault causing injury. The presiding magistrate, María Cruz Zabal, highlighted the victim’s consistent and credible testimony, supported by witness statements and forensic evidence. Mir’s defence maintained the intercourse was consensual, a claim the court dismissed. The sentence is not final and Mir immediately announced his intention to appeal.

Co-accused Pablo Jara

The same court sentenced Pablo Jara to two years for sexual assault against a second victim and a further six months for an offence against moral integrity, as well as a €6,280 fine. Details of his own potential appeal were not immediately known.

Clubs and career

Mir began his career at Valencia and later joined Wolverhampton Wanderers, with loan spells at Nottingham Forest, Las Palmas, and Huesca. He moved to Sevilla in 2021 for a reported €16 million and represented Spain at the Tokyo Olympics, where the team won silver. At the time of the incident he was at Valencia, but his contract is held by Sevilla, and he spent the most recent season on loan at Elche. Sevilla issued a statement declaring “utmost respect for judicial proceedings and our firm and unequivocal condemnation of any type of violence, abuse, or sexual assault,” adding that “such conduct has no place in our society or in the values promoted by sport.” Club sources told laSexta that Sevilla would seek a way to offload the player this summer, but any contractual move depends on a final conviction.

Broader context in Spanish football

Mir joins a list of footballers convicted of sexual offences in Spain. Brazilian striker Robinho is currently serving a nine-year sentence in Brazil for a 2013 gang rape in Milan, after Italy’s request was upheld. Former Barcelona defender Dani Alves spent two years in custody before being acquitted on appeal in 2025, though the victim has challenged that ruling before the Supreme Court. Santi Mina received a four-year sentence for sexual abuse, ratified by the Andalucía High Court but still under appeal. Three former Arandina CF players were given nine-year terms after the Supreme Court’s final verdict in 2022. Mir’s case, which also comes amid heightened scrutiny of women’s rights in Spanish sport following the Luis Rubiales kissing scandal, is now part of that judicial landscape.