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Iñaki and Nico Williams accused of acting with criminal intent according to the Spanish courts

Iñaki and Niko Williams, players for Athletic Bilbao, according to various media reports, are due to testify as suspects on 27 January at the Court of First Instance and Preliminary Investigation No. 2 in Aoiz (Navarra). The aforementioned players, who enjoy a comfortable lifestyle thanks to the generous salaries they receive as Spanish First Division footballers, have been the subject of a lawsuit filed by the company Omnigestión 24 SLU. This lawsuit, after being analysed by the judicial authorities, has been admitted for processing.

The complaint accuses the Williams brothers of failing to pay for a vehicle valued at approximately €80,000. The text of the lawsuit accuses the footballers of acting with criminal intent to keep the vehicle without paying for it. According to the plaintiff's statement, which has been accepted for processing, the Williams brothers, in order to achieve their alleged objective of acquiring the vehicle without paying for it, used an insolvent person, who allegedly acted as the buyer of the vehicle, to make it difficult for the seller to recover the car.

The court document from the accusing party states that the defendants, Iñaki and Niko Williams, have illegally incorporated a vehicle of significant economic value into their economic and patrimonial sphere at zero cost, according to the plaintiff. In this way, they allegedly obtained an illicit benefit as a result of deceiving the plaintiff and taking advantage of the seller's trust, according to the prosecution.

For the time being, the judge presiding over the case has requested that the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) submit reports on the ownership of the vehicles and has ordered precautionary measures to prevent the footballers from disposing of the Mercedes AMG E63.

Iñaki Williams' conduct, as reported by OK Diario, has already generated controversy outside of sport after going viral for spitting on his girlfriend during the Aste Nagusia festivities in Bilbao. As if this background were not serious enough, Iñaki Williams recently expressed his opinion publicly at a press conference, where he was summoned as a player for the football club that pays him, on political issues, as Real Madrid player and French national team captain Kylian Mbappé did in his day at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg.

Such statements upset large sections of football club fans, not so much because of their content, with which one may agree or disagree, but because they use the brand of a club that pays them to spread a message that may not be to the liking of some of the members of the sports organisation that pays these players. It is not a question of preventing freedom of expression, but of not using the brand of a sports institution to spread messages that are not endorsed by all the owners and members of those brands.

It is clear that the off-field behaviour of highly skilled players such as those mentioned above can seriously damage their professional careers. More and more top-level football teams are analysing the environment and off-field behaviour of their players in great detail. Clubs are aware that disruptive players often tend to spread their behaviour among their teammates, who, like them, are in many cases young and to a certain extent easy to influence, without this statement implying a generalisation.

It is not surprising that important career moves for footballers can be jeopardised by off-field issues. A few weeks ago, Niko Williams missed out on the opportunity to join F.C. Barcelona, one of the best clubs in the world. For the time being, he will remain in Bilbao. We do not know the reason, but it is important that these young players, who make an admirable effort, do not damage their image by following bad advice or making rash decisions. As the Spanish saying goes: “Shoemaker, stick to your shoes”.