Former FC Barcelona president Sandro Rosell was on Wednesday cleared of charges of money laundering by the Spanish High Court.
Rosell was cleared after the court was unable to find enough evidence to convict him on charges relating to the sale of TV image rights for matches of the Brazilian national football team.
Rosell had spent 21 months in preventive custody, which is the longest time anyone has spent in prison in Spain while awaiting trial on similar charges.
He had been denied bail on 13 occasions by the judge overseeing the case.
“This is a day to celebrate and I expect his family will be very happy. It has been a long road and a difficult process in which he has suffered a great deal.
“It is not normal for someone to spend 21 months in preventive custody to then go free,’’ Rosell’s lawyer Andres Maluenda said after the verdict.