Third British footballer arrested in Ibiza on suspicion of sexually assaulting teenage tourist

Ibiza, where sexual assault is alleged to have happened. [Photo/Courtesy]

A third footballer has been held over an alleged sex attack on a teenage British holidaymaker at a hotel in Ibiza.

The unnamed suspect is thought to have been formally arrested after an ID parade organised yesterday by police.

He is said to play for the same London football team as the other two 20-year-old men arrested early on Tuesday after the woman’s parents took her to police to lodge a formal complaint.

The alleged sex attack, described locally as a rape, took place at an unnamed hotel in Cala de Bou near San Antonio.

The 19-year-old holidaymaker and a female friend is said to have met the footballers at a bar on Monday and agreed to go back to their hotel with them.

Detectives have been told one of the players forced himself on the holidaymaker while the other held her down and a third filmed what was happening on a mobile phone.

National Police in Ibiza who made the arrests have yet to comment officially on the latest detention.

The players, who were on holiday in Ibiza, are expected to be hauled to court in the next few hours so they can be quizzed by an investigating magistrate.

San Antonio, one of the most populous resorts in the island. [Photo/Courtesy]

The hearing, which could conclude with the magistrate deciding to dismiss the case against them but is more likely to end with remands in custody or a bail release pending an ongoing criminal investigation, will be held in private as is normal in the early stages of a Spanish judicial probe.

The club the men play for, described by the Spanish police only as a “second division” team, has not been named.

In the only Spanish police statement so far on the matter, a Spanish National Police spokesman said yesterday: “National Police officers arrested two English men on Tuesday in San Jose in Ibiza as the suspected authors of a sex attack.

“The parents of the 19-year-old victim, who is also British, reported the incident to police.

“It would appear the victim and a female friend of hers who were on holiday in Ibiza with the victim’s parents, went to San Antonio on Monday afternoon and met several lads from a second division football team in the UK in a bar there.

“Both women agreed to go back with the some of the men to the hotel they were staying at, in the municipality of San Jose.

“Once they were in a room, one of the youngsters was allegedly sexually attacked by one of the players, while a second took hold of her and a third recorded her on a mobile phone.

“After the incident, the visibly affected victim and her friend left the hotel to go back to the woman’s parents.

“The victim’s parents quickly suspected something was wrong and after discovering what had happened, went to speak to the National Police.

“National Police officers went to the hotel where those allegedly responsible for the sex attack were staying, and subsequently arrested two men.

“The police investigations are ongoing and further arrests in the coming hours have not been ruled out.”

The first two arrests are understood to have happened around 6.40am on Tuesday.

Cala de Bou, which is in the municipality of San Jose, is a popular location for tourists looking to stay somewhere quieter than San Antonio but within easy reach of the brash party resort.

It is just seven miles from the airport and home to a number of hotels and short-stay holiday apartments.