Cuban volleyball players jailed for raping Finnish woman at tournament

File photo taken on shows (L-R) Abrahan Alfonso Gavilan, Luis Tomas Sosa Sierra and Dariel Albo Miranda of Cuba defending against the Canadian team during a match at the 2016 Volleyball World League in Tampere, Finland. (KALLE PARKKINEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Five Cuban volleyball players have been convicted for the rape of a Finnish woman during a tournament.

The attack took place at the Volleyball World League in Tampere, southern Finland.

Team captain, Rolando Cepeda Abreu, 27, was given a five year sentence for aggravated rape at the District Court of Pirkanmaa, along with team mates Abrahan Alfonso Gavilan, 21, Ricardo Calvo Manzano, 19, and Osmany Uriarte Mestre, 21.

Another defendant, Luis Sosa Sierra, 21, was jailed for three years and six months.

One player, Dariel Albo Miranda, 24, was acquitted.

Eight members of the team were initially arrested in early July following allegations that a woman was raped at a hotel where the team was staying in Tampere, 105 miles north of the capital, Helsinki.

Two were released without charge.

The defendants had denied the charge and insisted the woman had consented to sex.

Other team members denied knowledge of the incident.

Despite the arrests and consequent loss of players, the Cuban team entered the Rio 2016 games but lost every match.