Captain Rolando Cepeda Abreu, Osmany Santiago Uriarte Mestre, Ricardo Norberto Calvo Manzano and Abrahan Alfonso Gavilan were all given five-year sentences, while Luis Tomas Sosa Sierra received three-and-a-half years.

They were ordered to pay a total of £20,500 ($27,000/€24,000) in compensation to the victim.

Twenty-four-year-old Dariel Albo Miranda also stood trial but was acquitted of the charges.  

All of the suspects had denied the accusations against them and it is not yet clear whether appeals against today’s verdicts will be launched.

Eight players from the Cuban side were initially arrested two months ago on suspicion of aggravated rape, with an incident occurring at a hotel in the Finnish city where they had been staying.

The team were taking part in an International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) World League event, with five players detained on July 3.

Four of them had taken to the court in Cuba’s 25-19, 22-25, 25-19, 20-25, 15-9 victory over Portugal at the competition at the Tampere Ice Arena that day.

Central Finland Police Department Inspector Joni Länsipuro had confirmed that three men had been arrested the previous day (July 2).

The tournament was seen as a key preparation for the recent Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where Cuba  finished 11th after suffering defeat in all five of their group matches - against Argentina, Poland, Russia, Iran and Egypt in Group B.

They entered a team into the competition in the Brazilian city despite the incident, which saw all players involved axed from the team.

The FIVB had told insidethegames in July that they were “very concerned by the alleged serious misconduct by members of the Cuban National volleyball team”.

"The FIVB acknowledges and respects the decisions taken by the Court in Finland regarding the Cuban volleyball players," an FIVB statement read.

"The FIVB would like to reiterate it has an absolute zero tolerance towards any offence committed against another person by any players or officials at an FIVB event.

"The FIVB provisionally suspended the players following the incident and the subsequent disciplinary process is ongoing. 

"The FIVB expects all international players to reflect the family values of our sport at all times."