Spanish Footballer Convicted of Sexual Assault for Inappropriately Touching a Mascot

FILE - Perica, the mascot of Espanyol F.C., performs before the match against Atlético de Madrid in Barcelona on Sept. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort, file)
FILE - Perica, the mascot of Espanyol F.C., performs before the match against Atlético de Madrid in Barcelona on Sept. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort, file)
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Spanish Footballer Convicted of Sexual Assault for Inappropriately Touching a Mascot

FILE - Perica, the mascot of Espanyol F.C., performs before the match against Atlético de Madrid in Barcelona on Sept. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort, file)
FILE - Perica, the mascot of Espanyol F.C., performs before the match against Atlético de Madrid in Barcelona on Sept. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort, file)

Spanish soccer player Hugo Mallo has been convicted of sexual assault for inappropriately touching a mascot before a La Liga game in 2019, court officials said on Thursday.
The former Celta Vigo player was found to have inappropriately touched the breasts of the woman who was wearing Espanyol’s parakeet costume while players lined up to salute each other before kickoff, The Associated Press reported.
A judge fined Mallo 6,000 euros ($6,600) and ordered him to pay 1,000 euros ($1,100) in damages to the victim.
The 33-year-old Mallo reiterated his innocence and said he planned to appeal the sentencing. Mallo posted a video of the incident on Instagram.
“I continue to categorically deny the facts attributed to me in the ruling,” he said. “I acknowledged that while turning around after the greetings that my hand could have touched the waist of the parakeet, but I absolutely denied that it touched the parakeet’s breasts.”
The case was initially dismissed but that decision was overturned on appeal. At the time, Mallo posted a statement on Instagram calling for “respect” and pointing out that neither Celta nor Espanyol found evidence of wrongdoing.
Mallo will also have to pay for the legal costs of the proceedings.



FIFA Opts Not to Suspend Israel but Will Investigate Palestinian Claims of Discrimination

(FILES) A sign of FIFA is seen at the football's World governing body headquarters  on December 17, 2015 in Zurich. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)
(FILES) A sign of FIFA is seen at the football's World governing body headquarters on December 17, 2015 in Zurich. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)
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FIFA Opts Not to Suspend Israel but Will Investigate Palestinian Claims of Discrimination

(FILES) A sign of FIFA is seen at the football's World governing body headquarters  on December 17, 2015 in Zurich. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)
(FILES) A sign of FIFA is seen at the football's World governing body headquarters on December 17, 2015 in Zurich. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)

FIFA stopped short of suspending the Israeli soccer federation on Thursday, but asked for a disciplinary investigation of possible discrimination alleged by Palestinian soccer officials.
A senior FIFA panel overseeing governance will separately investigate “the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine,” soccer’s governing body said after a meeting of its ruling Council.
The Palestinian soccer federation has consistently asked FIFA for more than a decade to take action against the Israeli soccer body for incorporating teams from West Bank settlements in its leagues.
The compromise decisions came more than four months after Palestinian officials had urged FIFA to suspend Israel’s membership at a meeting in May.
The request to FIFA's congress in May also cited “international law violations" in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict and directed the soccer body to its statutory commitments on human rights and against discrimination.
FIFA delayed making a decision in May until after a legal review scheduled for July, then pushed back the issue two more times until the meeting Thursday.
“The FIFA Council has implemented due diligence on this very sensitive matter and, based on a thorough assessment, we have followed the advice of the independent experts,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement.
The latest process follows a pattern — under Infantino and his predecessor Sepp Blatter — of Palestinian requests for FIFA to uphold its legal statutes and the question then being steered toward ad hoc panels and other committees.
FIFA gave no timetable Thursday for the investigations it has not requested.