Sexual assault conviction for former La Liga captain confirmed – “I don’t want an apology”

Former Celta Vigo captain Hugo Mallo has had his appeal against a sexual assault conviction rejected, for incident with the Espanyol mascot back in 2019. Mallo will be forced to pay financial penalties as a result.

Mallo was accused of sexual assault by Espanyol mascot Carme Coma in 2023, and despite pleading innocent, was found guilty last September. He had appealed the incident, having been ordered to pay a fine of €7k, damages of €1k to the victim and her legal expenses.

Mallo conviction confirmed

As reported by Diario AS on Thursday, Mallo has been ordered to pay the above fines in the next ten days. It is the culmination of a process that has taken six years since Coma first reported the incident back in 2019. The 34-year-old had a long career at Celta before moving Internacional in Brazil in 2023, and then Aris Salonika in Greece in 2024. He has been a free agent since being released this past summer.

A @HugoMallo le pareció buena idea comprobar si la Periquita era o no una mujer. Y que haya aficionados del @RCCelta que lo defiendan #rcde pic.twitter.com/1WvVLMnfzx

— Birras Lovers RCDE (@BirrasLovers_) February 2, 2024

Coma: “I don’t want an apology, I just want justice”

The victim, who last year spoke on the incident publicly, chastising the attitude of those of told her not to report the incident, or that it was not a serious matter.

“I am calm, satisfied, and at peace. I have been waiting for this moment since 2019, and this is closing the door on an infamous episode with the ending it had to have, as a crime should be,” she told Onda Cero, as reported by Marca.

“I remember those three disgusting seconds so vividly, that audacity of doing it in front of the stadium, with that smile. I always think that if this had happened to me when I was 18, I would have carried it with me for the rest of my life, but at over 40, as a grown woman, no.”

Coma reiterated that she simply wanted it to be sentenced as a crime, sending a message to offenders and attacking the culture of sexual violence against women.

“I don’t want him to apologise; I don’t know him. All I wanted was for justice to be served and for it to be verified that he had committed a crime against me. That person made me feel vulnerable, harassed, and hurt. The people who commit these crimes have to know that they can carry a sentence for life.”

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