Villarreal president handed 11-month prison sentence following forgery conviction

Villarreal president Fernando Roig has been handed a significant prison sentence, following a court verdict on Thursday.

Roig was charged of crimes of forgery in a commercial document against the Public Treasury, as per Diario AS. His punishment is a prison sentence of 11 months and 28 days – two unnamed Villarreal CEOs have also been convicted, according to the court’s report.

The charges relate to the renovations work that took place in 2004 on Villarreal’s Sports City and its Estadio de la Ceramica – known as El Madrigal at the time. According to the report, the sentence proves a fraud to the Treasury for a total of €525,440 – €187,840 for the 2004 tax year and €336,600 for the 2005 tax year.

The decision be appealed before the Provincial Court of Castellon, and Villarreal have already announced that they intend to do exactly this. The club is “convinced of its advisers’ innocence”, and they will “use all legal avenues at its disposal to defend its innocence before the higher authorities”.