Spain's Supreme Court has reduced from seven-and-a-half to seven years the prison sentence for lawyer and La Liga Sevilla President JOSÉ MARÍA DEL NIDO for his role in the "Minutas" case, according to Esperanza Codina of EL PAIS. Del Nido was originally sentenced in Dec. '11 for his part in the case, which involved the embezzlement of public funds in Marbella, Spain. The alleged offenses "took place between '99 and '03, when Del Nido was working as a lawyer." Former Marbella Mayor JULIÁN MUÑOZ was "also sentenced to seven years." The Supreme Court convicted Del Nido of "embezzlement and corruption, but dropped fraud charges and reduced the sentence by six months." Del Nido "had remained the Sevilla president until now, but will have to delegate his role to someone else because he is headed to prison barring something exceptional in his appeal causing a suspended sentence" (EL PAIS, 12/5).
SEVILLA'S REACTION: In Madrid, Alberto Fernández reported the Supreme Court's decision to sentence Del Nido to seven years in prison "will open new paths at the club to succeed Del Nido, who had been the club's visible face" since '02. Sevilla VP PEPE CASTRO will fill Del Nido's role as president, "as expected, while the surprise is the return of JOSÉ MARÍA CRUZ." Cruz, the former Sevilla VP, "will return as a strongman within the club's new leadership" (AS, 12/5).
