BarcelonaCelta de Vigo footballer Santi Mina, sentenced to four years in prison for sexually abusing a woman, has gone on loan to Saudi Arabia until June next year. Since the ruling, the player has been removed from the Galician club, even without the possibility of training at Celta’s facilities. That’s why Mina demanded, in mid-July and through a burofax, his reinstatement in the sessions of the first team, because the sentence was not yet final and he was awaiting an appeal. The club did not let him participate in the pre-season games and, since then, he has been looking for a way out.
A few days ago, Celta managed to transfer him to Al-Shabab, from Saudi Arabia, a country that does not have an extradition agreement with Spain, which would make it even more difficult for a possible application of the sentence if the appeal of the defense is unsuccessful. Despite the conviction, and while the procedures are being resolved by the player’s defense, which announced that it would appeal because it considered that “it did not comply with the law and contained important errors in the assessment of the tests practiced”, Mina will be able leave the country and go to the Middle East, at least until June 30, 2023.
Many wonder why a person sentenced to four years in prison does not have his passport revoked and can travel wherever he wants. Now justice will run the risk that, if the sentence is finally final, Santi Mina decides never to return from Saudi Arabia. And the Spanish authorities couldn’t do anything about it. This situation is not new in football. There are quite a few athletes who have packed their bags and left for countries, usually Arab, to try to protect themselves from an uncertain future from a judicial point of view, because in these “paradise” there is no possibility of extradition .
Sergio García and his involvement in the Osasuna case
Sergio García, former Espanyol player and current coach of the A de la Damm youth team, was one of the defendants in the Osasuna case, the historic sentence in Spanish football that convicted several former managers of Osasuna and two footballers for a crime of sports corruption and the fixing of matches in the First Division. The issue came to light after the complaint drawn up by the Navarrese club for the disappearance of 2.4 million euros from its accounts, as well as the complaint of the Professional Football League (LFP) for alleged match-fixing .
During the trial, at that time Espanyol player Sergio García was called to testify and accused of alleged match-fixing the previous season, among them Espanyol-Osasuna on the penultimate day, a match that ended in a draw . It was Osasuna’s former manager, Ángel Vizcay, who implicated the player in his confession to the LFP.
A few months after Sergio García’s statement, the player left Espanyol for Qatar, which raised suspicions about his involvement in the case, although he justified it for personal reasons and as an opportunity for his family. Finally, two years later, the judge in charge of the case dismissed the accusation against the player, reaffirming that Vizcay’s incriminating statements “were not confirmed by any other evidence” and Garcia returned to Espanyol.
Renan and the young Brazilian bride who has destroyed his career
One of the great promises of Brazilian football, Renan Víctor da Silva, may have said goodbye to his dream of becoming a top professional player. The former Palmeiras footballer caused the death of a 38-year-old motorcyclist in a traffic accident, in addition to not having a valid driving license and being under the influence of alcohol.
The police managed to arrest him, but Renan was released after posting bail of more than $47,000 and, like Mina, has been able to leave the country despite being charged with murder. After his home club and Red Bull Bragantino, the team he was loaned to by Palmeiras, unilaterally terminated his contract, the player has signed for Shabab al-Ahli, a team in the United Arab Emirates where he can continue his career without any impediment.
Robinho is hiding in his country
The Brazilian star, famous for his play on the pitch but also off it, was sentenced to nine years in prison for “sexual gang violence”. The former player of Madrid and other teams sexually assaulted an Albanian girl in 2013 in a nightclub in Milan, where he was playing, together with a group of friends. The sentence was upheld earlier this year by the Court of Cassation in Rome, the last court in Italy, following a conviction at first instance in 2017. However, it appears that Robinho will not serve the sentence. And it is not because the Brazilian has gone to an Arab country, but because he is in his native country, Brazil: while Italy is asking for his extradition, the Brazilian Constitution says that a citizen of the country cannot be extradited.
