Rafa Mir is back playing, and scoring, for Valencia – 93 days after arrest on suspicion of sexual assault

On Wednesday night, Valencia striker Rafa Mir played his first game of football since he was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault 93 days previously.

The 27-year-old came on for the last eight minutes of Valencia’s Copa del Rey game against fourth-tier Ejea, scoring the final goal in a 3-1 victory.

In September, a woman made an allegation against Mir, and a second woman made an allegation against another man. Both complaints related to an alleged incident at Mir’s home on the outskirts of Valencia after a night out. The former Wolves player, who is on loan at Valencia from Sevilla, was released and made a preliminary appearance in court. His passport was taken and he was banned from coming within 500 metres of the two complainants.

Mir has denied the claims against him. Valencia issued a statement in September to say that they “reiterated their firm condemnation against all types of violence” while “respecting the presumption of innocence established by our legal system”.

But the club said they would open disciplinary proceedings against Mir as “his way of acting during his time off indisputably affected the professional performance expected of him as a player”.

Valencia suspended Mir for two games and fined him. He did not play in their following two matches against Atletico Madrid and Girona and then suffered a leg injury at the end of September that kept him out until this week.

There are no rules in Spain regarding whether players can appear for their clubs while under investigation by law enforcement — it is up to each club to decide.

Here, we explain the case and what happens next.

What is the case? 

Mir is accused by a woman of sexual assault, and another man, Pablo Jara, is accused by a different woman of non-penetrative sexual assault.

The alleged events took place in the early hours of Sunday, September 1, after the match between Valencia and Villarreal.

The striker went to the Mya nightclub in Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences complex with two friends. One of them was the semi-professional footballer Jara, who until last season was captain of the third-division team Alcantarilla de Murcia.

They met two women there, with whom Mir returned by taxi to his home in Betera, a town on the outskirts of Valencia. Jara and the other friend returned in another taxi.

It is there at Mir’s home that the alleged assaults are said to have taken place.

The women did not report the incident to local police at the time, so Mir and Jara were not arrested at the striker’s home. The alleged victims filed complaints against Mir and Jara the following day after going to a hospital in Valencia. Both footballers were arrested and held for 48 hours until they appeared before a judge.

None of the people involved requested the measure of pre-trial detention for Mir and Jara but both men had their passports withdrawn and were banned from leaving Spain. They were also told to make weekly court appearances and cannot communicate nor come within 500 metres of the two complainants. The Athletic has contacted the court to see if these measures are all still in place.

What has been said by those involved?

Both footballers have proclaimed their innocence. Mir, via his lawyer and on his social media account, and Jara via his lawyer during a televised interview outside court in September.

“Rafa Mir strongly denies the things of which he is accused,” a statement from Mir’s lawyer Jaime Campaner read. “The recently opened legal process will serve to clear up the events and it will be proven that the charges don’t stand up.”

In a statement published on X after his arrest in September, Mir said: “After a period of reflection, I want to make clear my innocence, reiterating the contents of the statement issued by my lawyer Jaime Campaner.”

In an interview with reporters outside court in September, Jara’s lawyer Gabriel Esturillo said: “He (Jara) is scared. He is a young man of 27 years old, he did not expect this.”

Jara’s lawyer also mentioned a second allegation regarding his client, of battery towards the same woman. The Athletic has contacted the court to confirm this but has yet to receive a reply.

There have been no public statements made by either of the women involved, nor their lawyers, and complainants of sexual assault are entitled to lifelong anonymity in Spain.

Who is Mir? 

Mir is a Spanish striker who returned to Valencia in the summer on loan from Sevilla. He was a product of Valencia’s youth academy and made his senior debut for them aged 18 in November 2015.

From there, he moved to Wolves in January 2018, where he made just four appearances as he was sent on loan to Las Palmas, Nottingham Forest and Huesca. He won a silver medal with Spain’s squad at the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and joined Sevilla that summer.

Mir had been pressuring Sevilla to let him go back to Valencia since last winter and the clubs eventually reached an agreement this summer for the striker to be sent on loan there until the end of 2024-25, with an option to buy.

What have Mir’s clubs (Sevilla and Valencia) said and done? 

Valencia issued two statements in the weeks after Mir’s arrest.

In both, they said they would “collaborate in everything that justice may require”. In the second, they issued a “firm condemnation of any type of violence” but defended the player’s “presumption of innocence”.

Valencia imposed disciplinary measures on the grounds that Mir’s behaviour — going out late and risking damaging the reputation of the club — fell short of what was expected of him as a Valencia player, “damaging, moreover, the confidence that our fans have in all our players”.

As mentioned, Mir returned to action for Valencia on December 4, scoring in the 3-1 win against Ejea.

When contacted by The Athletic, Mir’s parent club Sevilla said the player is not part of their squad and doesn’t receive a salary from them. They said they want to wait for the judges to decide on the case before they give their view on the matter.

Mir’s contract with Sevilla runs until June 2026 and he will return there this summer if Valencia do not take up the option to buy him permanently.

What have Mir’s team-mates and coach said?

On his way to the game against Ejea, Mir told reporters: “I’m very focused (on football). Everything will become clear with that subject (the case). I’m very calm.”

Mir was whistled by Ejea fans during the match and scored Valencia’s final goal after being introduced as a late substitute.

After the game, his coach Ruben Baraja said: “I didn’t feel the whistles for Rafa Mir. His arrival in the team is motivated by his injury and we have to be careful with his return. He’s with us and he’s one of us.”

Pepelu, one of Valencia’s captains, was asked by reporters about the Mir case at an event in September. He said Mir had spoken to his team-mates and given them “his explanations”.

“Everyone is an adult and knows the responsibility they have playing for Valencia,” he said. “We’re not in a situation for those kinds of things. I think the boss has made it clear to him and the club also. It’s a fine and a subject that’s pretty important, and I think he’s aware that he’s done things very badly.

“He should have learnt from his situation. A situation which is a lack of respect to the club and the fanbase that we can’t allow. It’s a difficult situation for him and I hope he’s learnt from it and that it doesn’t happen ever again.”

“An act of indiscipline has to have consequences,” his coach Baraja said in September. “Not only for him but for the group. This gives us the possibility to also understand that a person can make a mistake, can have a day in which they don’t do things well and logically we’ve got to give (him) a second chance.

“I’ve told Rafa that, for me, it was a big disappointment. But that I hope it’s served him to learn, to know how to value and know where he is, the club where he is and how important it is to do things well here.”

What happens next?

Proceedings are in the pre-trial phase, which in Spain means that the judge asks for witness statements, documents and anything else necessary to clarify the facts.

The judicial investigation phase in Spain lasts a year, with a possible six-month extension.

Valencia, meanwhile, are in a relegation battle in La Liga, in 19th place with 10 points from 14 games after their 1-0 home defeat by Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, and Baraja is ready to call on Mir as one of the players he hopes can score the goals to fire them to safety.

(Jose Manuel Alvarez/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)