José María del Nido

José María del Nido Benavente (born 6 August 1957) is a Spanish lawyer and businessman. He was president of Sevilla FC from 2002 to 2013, the most successful time in the club's history, winning seven trophies. He left his post after being convicted of embezzlement for his time as a lawyer for Marbella mayors Jesús Gil and Julián Muñoz, being sentenced to seven years of which three were spent in prison.

Early life and Sevilla presidency Born in Seville, Del Nido was the son of José María del Nido Borrego, who was appointed vice president of Sevilla FC in 1971. The younger Del Nido made it onto the board of the club in 1986.

Legal career and conviction As a youth, Del Nido was a member of the post-Francoist party New Force, whose regional leader was his father. In 1986, Del Nido was the lawyer for the defence of , a colonel accused of planning a far-right coup with money from Muammar Gaddafi. De Meer was at first acquitted of being absent without leave through lack of evidence, but was sentenced to six months in prison by the military supreme court.

Del Nido worked as a lawyer for the municipal government of Marbella under mayors Jesús Gil and Julián Muñoz. During the investigation into the latter in the Caso Malaya, the scope widened, and Del Nido was charged in 2006 in the Caso Minutas for €6.7 million payments he received from the city hall from 1999 to 2003.

The Supreme Court of Spain upheld Del Nido's conviction in December 2013, dropping the conviction of fraud and shortening his sentence by six months. The following March, he entered the prison in Mairena del Alcor. He was freed from Huelva prison in April 2017.