Ruben Semedo in the news again, for the wrong reasons

More news of Ruben Semedo, and not good news either. Semedo was questioned in late November for allegedly pointing a pistol at an employee of a Valencia nightclub on November 19, but was released since no gun was found.

Now, it’s being reported that Semedo had been involved in another incident, several weeks before, at a nightclub (not sure if it’s the same one). According to the article in Las Provincias, Semedo got into an argument at 6AM with a young man, but after some argument everyone returned to the club and spent another hour there. When everyone got ready to go, Semedo asked the young man to come to his car, because he wanted to give him a Villarreal shirt. What happened was that instead of giving the fellow a shirt, Semedo took a glass bottle from his pocket and attempted to assault the young man. The attacked man was able to call for help on his phone, at which point Semedo and a friend ran to a car (Mercedes, naturally) and drove off.

The young man was treated and released at hospital, and has filed a complaint with the authorities against Semedo. Villarreal have said they will wait for the result of the investigation before taking any action, but if Semedo is arrested and charged, it is hard to imagine he has a future with the club—not least because he could be sent to prison for two years.

It also has to be a black eye for the club that Semedo’s transgressions have been so public. To be honest, a soccer team is a group of 20-30+ young men, and of course incidents happen. But Vila-real is a small place, and the local press isn’t interested in muckraking to find out dirt about a player.

Of course there have been incidents in the past with individual players’ work ethic, fondness for booze or whatever, but I cannot imagine Sr. Roig willing to put up with a player who is arrested for aggravated assault, if that’s what happens. Especially when the incident occurred when the player in question was injured but still being paid by Villarreal (and I find Semedo’s use of a promise of a Villarreal shirt, then attacking the guy, particularly repugnant).