Eight Leicester City players have been detained in connection with a sex assault in Spain.
EIGHT Leicester City footballers were arrested yesterday night in Spain after three women alleged they were sexually abused in a hotel room.
The players are accused of forcing their way into a room where the ladies claim they were attacked while on a warm-weather training vacation in the Costa del Sol.
According to Spanish TV channel Telecinco, the suspected victims, who were African-born, were discovered to have injuries to various regions of their bodies when evaluated by physicians at Alicante General Hospital, according to Cartagena police.
The event is the latest sex scandal to rock sport in recent months, and it is the second time Leicester City has made headlines while staying at the exclusive La Manga Club.
According to authorities, nine players were detained yesterday after the ladies complained to them on Monday.
Four were charged with sexual assault and breaking and entering, one with assault and breaking and entering, and three with breaking and entering and fleeing the scene without rendering help.
The ninth was detained and then released for leaving a crime scene without giving help.
The eight players were scheduled to appear in court this evening to answer the claims. Images on Spanish television showed several players being brought into a police van.
They included defenders Matt Elliott and Frank Sinclair, as well as backup goalkeeper Danny Coyne.
Elliott was charged with breaking and entering and leaving a crime scene without helping, Sinclair with sexual assault and breaking and entering, and Coyne with breaking and entering and fleeing a crime scene without helping.
Steffen Freund, a German midfielder, was freed after being questioned of leaving a crime scene without giving aid.
The ladies, who were staying at the Hotel Los Belones in Cartagena, had planned to return to Germany, where they are thought to reside, but authorities convinced them to stay in the nation to be investigated.
In addition to their injuries, the three ladies handed over a bracelet that had been broken by one of the aggressors, as well as bloodied panties.
The ladies photographed the footballers accused of carrying out the assaults, proving the extent of involvement of each of them.
According to a police statement, “agents of the judicial police arrested nine people, all of whom are members of the English football club Leicester City, in relation to a sexual assault alleged by three women.”
The footballers were taken into judicial custody this morning after appearing before a judge.
According to a member of the hotel staff who witnessed the alleged attacks, the footballers came that night evidently inebriated and fighting among themselves and other guests.
The remainder of the team cut short their week-long tour and went back to England Friday night, despite club officials insisting they were not booted out of their hotel.
“The club is aware that a number of players have been interviewed by Spanish police as a result of alleged incidents that occurred during a club training camp in Spain,” Leicester City stated in a statement.
“The club is fully cooperating with the authorities in their investigations, but because these investigations are still ongoing, the club is unable to make any further comment at this time.”
Leicester endured another humiliating situation four years ago when striker Stan Collymore set off a fire extinguisher in a pub and the squad was ordered to leave their hotel.
