Spanish media outlet AS reported on Wednesday, citing Valencia police, that former Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Rafa Mir, who is currently on-loan at Elche, has been charged with the sexual assault of a 21-year-old woman.

According to the report, police have sufficient evidence to charge Mir in court. Mir, currently on bail, will be summoned to appear in court next week to defend himself.

Furthermore, due to concerns about his flight risk, police have confiscated Mir's passport and mobile phone. Mir is prohibited from leaving Spain or coming within 500 meters of or contacting the victim until the trial is concluded. He must also report to the police weekly.

If convicted, Mir could face a fine, imprisonment, or both, as well as a five-year ban from the Spanish Football Federation.

Police also confirmed that Mir was arrested along with Chilean goalkeeper Pablo Jara, who is currently playing in the United States.

Jara was also charged with sexually assaulting a second victim without penetration, also at the same location and time.

How it happened

On September 1, 2024, police received a report from a 21-year-old woman alleging that she and another woman had met Mir, Jara, and a friend of Mir and Jara, whom she had previously met, at a nightclub in Valencia. Mir then allegedly took them to his home, where they were sexually assaulted twice, in the swimming pool and bathroom by him and Jara.

After receiving the report, police immediately dispatched to Mir's mansion in Betera and arrested Mir.

Mir was taken back to the police station for questioning and was released on bail of €12,500 the following day. Jara was released on bail of €5000 after the questioning.

About Rafa Mir

Mir, 28, was born on June 18, 1997, in Cartagena, Murcia, Spain. He is 1.91 meters tall and primarily plays center forward, but can also play as a left or right winger. His father, Magin, is a former non-league center back who graduated from the Mallorca youth academy.

Mir played futsal as a child, scoring nearly 170 goals for a local futsal club in Murcia during his heyday. In 2009, he joined Barcelona's prestigious La Masia youth academy. In 2011, he returned to his hometown to join Real Murcia's youth academy, but his outstanding performance earned him a move to Valencia's youth academy the following year.

Mir began playing for Valencia B in March 2015 and completed his Valencia first-team debut in a Champions League match against Zenit St. Petersburg in November of the same year.

During his three-year spell with Los che, Mir's prolific goalscoring prowess in the reserve team attracted the attention of several major clubs. 

In January 2018, Mir joined Wolverhampton Wanderers for €1 million. During his time with Wolves, he won the EFL Championship with the club.

However, after the club was promoted back to the Premier League after six years, Mir was loaned-out to Las Palmas and Nottingham Forest successively.

In January 2020, Mir was loaned-out to Huesca for a year and a half.

During his loan spell with Huesca, Mir won the Spanish Segunda División once.

In late August of the following year, Mir joined Sevilla for €16 million.

In his first two-years with Los Nervionenses, Mir won the Europa League once with the club and, due to his outstanding performances, many speculated he would be called up to the Spanish national team for the first time.

However, poor performances in the 2023/24 season ultimately dashed these speculations.

Last July, Mir was loaned-back to his boyhood club Valencia, but his performances remained poor.

This July, Mir joined Elche on-loan with an option to buy.

So far this season, Mir has made eight appearances in all competitions for the newly promoted La Liga side, scoring three goals.