BRITAIN: Manchester United footballer Cristiano Ronaldo (20) was yesterday arrested and interviewed by police over a rape allegation.
The Portuguese international went voluntarily to a police station in Manchester with his lawyer to attend an appointment with detectives.
Ronaldo told officers he was completely innocent.
Two women have alleged he and another man took them back to a penthouse suite in the Sanderson Hotel in London on October 2nd after they met at a nightspot. The attack is alleged to have happened in the hotel.
Ronaldo was arrested by officers from Scotland Yard's Operation Sapphire team, which investigates sex crime, and who travelled up to Manchester to speak to him.
A second man in his 30s, who is said to have been with him on the night, also kept an appointment at the police station but was not arrested.
After interviewing Ronaldo, police may pass their findings to the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether to prosecute.
But Ronaldo has told friends he is the victim of a "stitch-up".
Manchester United director of communications Phil Townsend said: "We're not commenting at the moment." The allegations against the player follow a series of high-profile cases involving sex allegations against footballers.
In September last year, two Premiership players were interviewed over an alleged gang rape at the Grosvenor House hotel in London.
The Crown Prosecution Service later decided there was insufficient evidence for them to be charged.
Also last year three Leicester City players faced allegations of sexually assaulting three women in a five-star hotel on a training camp in Spain. They spent six nights in jail there but all charges against them were dropped.
In January last year, rape charges were dropped against ex-Chelsea player Jody Morris and a friend after they were accused of raping a woman in Leeds.
Arsenal's Dutch striker Robin van Persie was held in jail in Rotterdam earlier this year after being accused of rape. He was released after two weeks and maintains his innocence.
A spokesman at the office of Ronaldo's agent, Jorge Mendes, said Mr Mendes was not at the office in Oporto.
He said the agent was thought to be out of the country but the spokesman could not confirm whether he was visiting the UK.
