Cape Verde captain Ryan Mendes has been accused of raping a woman who was working as the team’s translator during a trip to New Zealand, in shocking developments ahead of their Round of 32 clash against defending champions Argentina this Saturday at Miami Stadium in Miami Gardens.
Mendes, 36, allegedly sexually assaulted a Brazilian woman hired to work as a translator for the team during their trip to New Zealand in March. The alleged incident is said to have occurred at a hotel where the national team was staying in Auckland.
According to a statement given to SPORTbible, a FIFA spokesperson confirmed that the organization is “in contact with the New Zealand authorities” but “cannot comment further at this stage.”
“FIFA takes any allegation of misconduct extremely seriously and has a clear process in place for anyone in football who wants to report an incident,” the spokesperson added.
Reports indicate that the woman, who has not been identified, was hired by Cape Verde during the FIFA Series earlier this year.
She alleges that she was attacked after being invited to a meeting in a hotel room following a match against Chile on March 27. Upon arriving, she realized it was a social gathering rather than an official meeting and decided to leave.
The woman further claims that Mendes followed her back to her hotel room and forced his way inside after knocking on the door.
She also alleges that she reported the incident to at least three officials from the Cape Verde Football Federation but did not receive a response.
On May 10, the woman and her husband reportedly sent complaints to both the Cape Verdean Football Federation and FIFA, including a medical report as evidence of the alleged rape.
They requested that Mendes be barred from participating in the World Cup, but she claims FIFA did not respond.
The revelations come at a sensitive time for the little-known island nation, which has made significant progress by reaching the knockout stages of the ongoing World Cup in North America.
Cabo Verde finished second in Group H behind 2010 champions Spain, while Uruguay came third and Saudi Arabia finished last.
However, the timing of the allegations has raised questions among football observers, with some wondering why the claims surfaced now rather than at the start of the tournament.