19 March 2024
… Allegations go ‘against the principles and values’ team says
Four players from Argentine top-flight club Velez Sarsfield – including a former player of MLS’ New York City FC – were arrested on Monday in connection with a rape case.
Braian Cufre, who played with NYCFC last season, is one of four players arrested for rape
Goalkeeper Sebastian Sosa, defender Braian Cufre, midfielder Jose Ignacio Florentín and striker Abiel Osorio were arrested.
Cufre, 27, played on loan at NYCFC last season, while Sosa previously spent time with Boca Juniors.
The arrests followed a request from case prosecutor María Eugenia Posse in San Miguel de Tucumán, 745 miles (1,200km) north of the capital Buenos Aires.
The alleged victim told authorities that on March 3 she agreed to join one of the players in a hotel room and three other men were there.
Goalkeeper Sebastian Sosa, 37, allegedly invited the victim to a hotel room
Abiel Osorio (left) and Jose Ignacio Florentín were also arrested for alleged rape in the case
The woman said she drank alcohol with the players, fell asleep in one of the beds, and was allegedly raped.
Patricia Neme, a lawyer for the alleged victim, told Argentine media that Sosa made contact with her client and invited her to the hotel. Sosa denied any wrongdoing.
Vélez, a historic club with 10 domestic titles and the 1994 Copa Libertadores trophy, said it suspended the contracts of all four footballers after they were arrested.
‘This club stresses its deepest concern for the denounced facts, which are clearly against the principles and values of our institution,’ Vélez said in a statement.
Sosa is the oldest of the group at 37 years old, while Florentin is 27 and Osorio is 21.
The news comes after former Barcelona and Brazil star Dani Alves was sentenced to four years and six months in prison after being found guilty of rape.
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