Paul Abasolo Amantegi (; born 29 June 1984) is a Spanish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

Born in

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

, Biscay, Abasolo spent seven years connected with

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

, six in the youth system and one with the farm team,

CD Basconia Club Deportivo Basconia is a Spanish football club based in Basauri, Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded on 14 March 1913, it currently plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 4, holding home games at ''Estadio de ...

. Released in 2003, he played the better part of the following six years in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

and in his native

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

, the sole exception being SD Eibar in the first part of the 2004–05 season in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, with that club loaning him consecutively to two other teams in division three,

SD Lemona Sociedad Deportiva Lemona was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lemoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded in 1923, it last played in Segunda División B, Se ...

and

Logroñés CF Logroñés Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 2000 and dissolved in 2008 it held home games at ''Estadio Las Gaunas'', with a capacity of 16,000 spectators. History ...

. In the 2009–10 campaign, Abasolo competed for the second time in the second tier of Spanish football, scoring four goals in 34 games for

Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RFEF ...

as they suffered relegation one year after being promoted. After a few months playing with a regional league side, he resumed his career in the third division with Lemona,

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club De ...

and

Sestao River Club Sestao River Club is a Spanish football team based in Sestao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1996 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Estadio Las Llanas'', with a capacity of 8,905 ...

Conviction

Convicted of

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

in July 2010 for having attacked three young women, Abasolo was acquitted on a fourth charge due to doubts of the alleged victim. He was eventually pardoned by the Government of Spain, but this fact prevented him from being hired by his former club Athletic Bilbao.Abasolo auzia: Indultuak zabaldutako zauriak (The Abasolo case: the wounds opened by the pardon)
;

Argia ''Argia'' is a genus of damselflies of the family Coenagrionidae and of the subfamily Argiinae. It is a diverse genus which contains about 114 species and many more to be described. It is also the largest genus in Argiinae. They are found in th ...

, 1 April 2012 (in Basque)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abasolo, Paul 1984 births Living people People from Durango, Biscay Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Biscay Men's association football forwards Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players CD Basconia footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Barakaldo CF footballers SD Eibar footballers SD Lemona footballers Logroñés CF footballers Real Unión footballers Real Oviedo players Sestao River Club footballers Amurrio Club footballers Zamudio SD players Club Portugalete players People convicted of sexual assault