Del Nido sentenced to seven years

Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido has been sentenced to seven years in jail for charges relating to corruption.

The 56-year-old was sentenced by the Supreme Court in Madrid at a hearing on Thursday following accusations that he, along with former mayor Julian Munoz, diverted money out of the municipality of Marbella’s public accounts while working there as a lawyer between 1999 and 2003.

Sevilla have confirmed the sentence originally dished out by the provincial court of Malaga in 2011 has been cut by six months following Del Nido’s appeal, with reports suggesting the court took into account the charges of embezzlement and perversion of justice, but not a third allegation of fraud.

Del Nido is now expected to stand down from the role he has held at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan for 11 years.

A statement on the club’s website read: “The criminal chamber of the supreme court has imposed a seven year prison sentence on FC Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido.

“The High Court has only reduced by half a year the sentence imposed on Del Nido by the Malaga Court, who tried the case in 2011.”

Sevilla have won the UEFA Cup, Copa Del Rey, Spanish Supercopa and the UEFA Supercup under Del Nido’s leadership.