Real Madrid youth players charged for circulating sex video with minor

General view of the Alfredo di Stefano stadium in Valdebebas, on the outskirts of Madrid on April 10, 2021. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO / AFP)

Four Real Madrid youth academy players have been charged with circulating a sexual video featuring a minor, judicial sources said Friday.

Last week, the Guardia Civil police said they had arrested three players following a complaint from the mother of the 16-year-old victim linked to their “dissemination of a video with sexual content involving a minor”.

Court officials later said the incident involved two alleged victims, although it was not immediately clear whether both were in the same video.

The players, who are 21 and 22, were arrested at the club’s training centre.

Police questioned them and examined their mobile phones, later pressing charges against all three as well as a fourth player who was also involved, the source said.

They did not identify the players but in a statement last week, Real Madrid said it was aware that a player from its second, or B team, and three players from its C team “have made statements to the Guardia Civil concerning a complaint about the alleged circulation of a private video via WhatsApp”.

Online newspaper El Confidencial, which broke the story citing sources from the investigation, said the main target was a Real Madrid C player who allegedly recorded himself having consensual sex with the 16-year-old girl in the Canary Islands in mid-June.

He then allegedly shared the video on WhatsApp with other players without her consent, it said.

The arrests come as Spain is embroiled in a debate over sexism within sport sparked by the Women’s World Cup scandal involving Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales kissing a player on the lips. He has since resigned and last week was brought before a judge on sexual assault charges.

“Spreading sexual images without consent also is sexual violence,” Equality Minister Irene Montero wrote on X, formerly Twitter, after news of the arrests broke.

“We have an obligation to not to look the other way and guarantee all rights to all women. All my support to the victim and her family,” she added.