January 8 – Second-tier Spanish side Malaga have suspended their coach Victor Sanchez del Amo (pictured) after a sexually explicit video of him appeared on social media.
The video was widely shared on Twitter and WhatsApp and is reported to feature Sanchez exposing his penis to the camera while wearing a Malaga training shirt.
“In relation to the events that have recently been discovered, and which have not as yet been verified, Malaga CF immediately suspends coach Víctor Sanchez del Amo from his duties until a full investigation is carried out,” the club said in a statement. “We will disclose further information once the facts have been clarified.”
Responding, Sanchez claimed he had been blackmailed over the video prior to it being made public.
“I am being subjected to a crime against my privacy with harassment and extortion,” he said. “The matter is in the hands of the police and I entrust myself to follow their instructions.
“Sharing or disseminating an intimate content of any person without consent is also a crime either through social networks or messages or in any other way.”
Malaga, near the foot of the table, have been in dire straits on the field as well, occasionally unable to field a full match day squad due to financial constraints, .
Meanwhile, Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales has come out in support of Del Amo.
“A great professional like Victor Sanchez del Amo has all of my support. Intimacy is an inviolable right,” said Rubiales. “To use illicit means to break it is immoral and criminal. That a third party takes advantage of it has no name. Moreover, to broadcast it is a crime.”
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