Spanish footballer found guilty of sexually assaulting woman in mascot costume

Celta Vigo’s former captain Hugo Mallo has been found guilty of the sexual assault of a woman who was working as the Espanyol mascot in the final moments before a game in La Liga.

A judge in Barcelona fined him €6,000 (£5,100) with a further €1,000 with interest to be paid in compensation after ruling that Mallo put his hand inside the victim’s parakeet costume and touched her chest as she and another mascot waited at the end of the line of players shaking hands with opponents. He will also have to pay costs. Mallo, who was then with Celta and now plays in Greece for Aris, has announced he will appeal.

The judge, Salvador Roig, said Mallo had acted on his sexual desire and had undermined the victim’s sexual intimacy at the RCDE stadium in April 2019. Two Espanyol mascots waited at the end of the line of players greeting Celta’s players: one in a “male” parakeet costume, the other in a “female” costume. As captain, Mallo was the first to reach the end of the line and has been ruled to have put his hands inside the costume, causing the victim to take a step back.

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The judge noted that Mallo had offered no alternative explanation, such as having accidentally touched the victim. Instead, he had denied the accusation. Mallo said he had greeted the players and the mascots in a normal manner and did not know the gender of the person in the costume. He said that he was aware that the game was being broadcast, that his actions would be caught on camera and argued that the video of the greeting shows nothing unusual, and that he immediately began his final warm-up.

In a statement published on Instagram, Mallo said he “totally disagrees” with the court’s ruling and “completely denies” the charges. His post included the video of the two teams shaking hands and him reaching the end of the line where the two mascots are.

“I would like to underline that the sentence noted that my statement to the court was firm and without contradiction, in which I recognised that at the end of the greetings and as I turned towards the middle of the pitch my hand could have touched the parakeet’s waist, [and] absolutely that there was not any touching of the parakeet’s chest.”