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The captain of Cape Verde has been accused of rape by a team translator after he allegedly entered her hotel room and choked her, according to reports.
Ryan Mendes, 36, who has played in all three of the African island country’s World Cup games so far, was accused of s£xually assaulting a Brazilian woman hired to be the team’s translator during a trip to New Zealand to play a game in March, reported Brazil’s Globo news outlet.
The unidentified woman said she approached at least three officials from the Cape Verdean soccer authorities, who did not respond, according to Brazilian media.
The case is now being investigated by New Zealand police, who collected security camera footage from an Auckland hotel and are awaiting the results of a forensic investigation before they decide whether to charge Mendes.
The alleged sex assault was reported by New Zealand media last month, but the name of the player was not revealed, only that he was on Cape Verde’s team.
In her statement, the woman said she was hired by Cape Verde’s soccer team for their games in the FIFA Series in New Zealand, and after the first match against Chile, she was invited to a meeting in one of the hotel rooms reserved for the national side at the hotel.
But when she realized that she wasn’t needed for translating, and this was a social gathering, she said she returned to her room, and shortly after, heard knocking on the door.
