Gardaí investigate assault claim against professional soccer player

A professional footballer from Ireland but based in Britain is at the centre of a criminal investigation after a serious assault in a south Dublin nightclub at the weekend.

The player, who is well known, was in a club on Leeson St at around 3.40am on Saturday when a man in his 20s was allegedly assaulted. The man, who is from Finglas, sustained a broken nose and other injuries to his face and damage to his teeth after being headbutted.

He spent most of Saturday in hospital undergoing medical treatment but has since been discharged and has made a formal statement of complaint to gardaí. He has alleged that he was attacked in an unprovoked incident and has named the soccer player he says attacked him.

The player has not yet been interviewed by gardaí and it was unclear last night if he was still in Ireland or if he had gone back to the UK.

The player was with a group of people in the club when the incident occurred and a number of people, including the player, were ejected from the club.

There were several witnesses to the attack inside the club and gardaí are trying to trace all of them for the purposes of taking statements.

CCTV footage filmed inside the premises and on the street outside is also being examined as part of the criminal investigation.