Real Madrid defender Raul Asencio cleared of sharing explicit video without consent

Real Madrid defender Raul Asencio has been cleared of charges related to sharing a sexually explicit video without the consent of the victims, including a minor, a court on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria said.

Prosecutors dropped the charges against Asencio on Thursday and reduced their sentencing requests for three other former Real Madrid youth players after the victims told the court they had forgiven the defendants.

The other three players, who were charged with recording and sharing sexual videos of two teenage women, one of them underage, were sentenced to one year in prison. The sentences were suspended on condition that they commit no further offences during that period.

Asencio was accused of sharing the video but was not accused of filming it.

In an unrelated incident, Asencio was fined 14,400 euros ($16,800) and banned from driving for eight months after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol, another court said on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old centre-back was more than three times over the legal limit during the August 16 incident.

Earlier on Thursday, Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said the club had opened disciplinary proceedings against the player, but that Asencio would remain part of his plans while the matter was being resolved.

“He’s a model professional. When he was fit, no one trained as hard as him,” Mourinho told reporters.

“Now that he’s been injured for a few weeks, he’s the first to arrive and the last to leave [training]. But a Real Madrid player remains so 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 12 months a year.

“Everything you do outside your professional sphere still reflects on Real Madrid and continues to damage the reputation of a club whose standing must not be undermined.

“I’m not happy. Everyone makes mistakes, but a series of mistakes is something different.”

Asencio has not played for the Spanish club this season because of a hamstring injury that is expected to keep him out for a couple more weeks, Mourinho said.