Picture shows a general view of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium with its operable roof closed due to the rainy weather ahead of the Spanish Liga football match between Real Madrid CF and Getafe CF in Madrid on September 2, 2023. (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP)
Spanish police have arrested at least three unnamed Real Madrid youth players for allegedly distributing a sexual video featuring a minor, a police spokesperson said on Thursday.
The arrests come at a difficult moment in Spanish football amid allegations of sexual abuse against former soccer federation chief Luis Rubiales, who kissed World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso on the lips last month, unleashing a wave of indignation against sexism and macho behaviour in Spain.
Real Madrid officials were not immediately available for comment.
El Confidencial newspaper reported earlier, citing sources from the investigation, that those arrested were three players from the youth academy, the reserve team and the third team, and that the case stemmed from a police complaint filed on Sept. 6 in the Canary Islands by the mother of the underage victim.
According to the report, the main subject of the probe is a Real Madrid C — the Spanish club's third team — player, who allegedly recorded his sexual relationship with the 16-year-old victim. Cadena SER radio station reported that the relationship was consensual.
The two other players allegedly shared the video without the minor's consent via mobile messaging app WhatsApp, El Confidencial and Cadena SER reported.
All three were detained on Thursday morning in Madrid, suspected of committing a felony known in Spanish criminal law as "revealing secrets of a sexual nature", the reports said.
Reuters
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