Colombian soccer player Sebastián Villa has been sentenced by an Argentine court to two years and one month of conditional imprisonment for the crime of gender violence against his ex-partner, Daniela Cortés. The Boca Juniors club has decided to exclude him from the team after learning of the sentence. The court found Villa guilty of coercive threats and minor injuries caused by gender violence. Villa’s defense plans to appeal the sentence.
Hours after the verdict, Boca Juniors announced that Villa would not be called up for first-team competitions until there was a final court ruling. However, the sentence is not yet final and can be appealed. Even if the verdict is confirmed, Villa will not go to prison because the sentence has been suspended because it is less than three years.
It is important to note that the sentence was released one day before the eighth anniversary of the NiUnaMenos mobilization against femicide in Argentina. In the match prior to the sentence, Villa posed with a banner with the legend “Ni Una Menos” (Not One Less) as part of a campaign against gender violence.
The facts judged occurred in April 2020 in a house where Villa and Cortes lived together during the pandemic. The court imposed a series of rules of conduct on Villa for two years, including refraining from any contact with the victim, not consuming drugs or alcohol, receiving psychological treatment, and participating in workshops against gender violence.
During the trial, Villa claimed to be innocent and stated that Cortés had assaulted him. The penal code provides for sentences of one to six years in prison for the offenses being tried.
Cortés, who testified from Medellín, stated that Villa became violent when he drank alcohol and physically assaulted her. She decided to make the complaint public out of fear for her family and her daughter from a previous relationship.
Villa must also face another trial for a sexual abuse complaint filed by another young woman, who was also his partner. This case has not yet been scheduled, and the crime carries a penalty of 3 to 15 years in prison.