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Rape Cases Hang Over World Cup Knockout Stage
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- Rape Cases Hang Over World Cup Knockout Stage
Three starters competing in the knockout rounds of the World Cup are facing current rape allegations, and more have been targets of investigations into sexual abuse in the past.
Thomas Partey of Ghana and Achraf Hakimi of Morocco have active criminal cases against them in England and France, respectively. Both deny the allegations.
Cape Verde captain Ryan Mendes is currently under investigation
by authorities in New Zealand for allegedly raping his team's FIFA liaison at a tournament in March. His name has only been newly tied to the investigation this week, and he has not yet publicly commented on the accusations. Cape Verde's federation did not respond to a request for comment.
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These players have continued to participate—and take center stage—in the World Cup.
Hakimi is widely considered one of the best defenders in the world and won the Champions League with Paris St.-Germain this year. Monday night, as the captain walked to take a penalty shootout kick for Morocco, Fox's Stu Holden called him the team's "star man" before John Strong listed his accolades. Hakimi missed, but Morocco still advanced to the Round of 16.
Partey and Mendes are set to play Friday. Partey's case has received the most attention because he was denied entry into Canada , where Ghana played its first group stage match.
None of the players have been found guilty of rape in a court of law. However, the allegations have reignited a conversation around sexual violence in sports, particularly global soccer, and the question of lauding athletes on the world's biggest stage despite serious and potentially criminal claims against them.
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FIFA did not respond to a request for comment about numerous players having allegations, but said in a statement about Mendes that it "takes any allegation of misconduct extremely seriously."
"That's the standard line we hear whenever any organization's governing body is looking into accusations of sexual assault," Jennifer Simmons Kaleba, a spokesperson for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, told Front Office Sports about FIFA's statement. "But taking sexual assault charges seriously should also include creating and insisting upon environments where the behavior is neither tolerated nor swept under the rug."
Partey, a former Arsenal midfielder who most recently played for Villarreal, originally filed a visa application that said he did not have any criminal charges, The Athletic reported , despite seven counts of rape or one count of sexual assault brought against him by four different women in England.
His appeal was unsuccessful, so if Ghana beats Colombia on Friday, Partey would likely again be barred from joining the team at its next match in the round of 16 in Vancouver. He started in Ghana's two matches in the U.S.
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Hakimi lost an appeal in France during the second week of the World Cup and will stand trial on rape charges stemming from 2023. He will now appeal that decision. Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi has said the team is "behind" Hakimi.
Allegations Against Other Players
Several other players in the knockout rounds have been investigated by authorities for rape and sexual assault allegations in the past, including Japan's Kaishū Sano.
Kaishū Sano scored Japan's lone knockout goal against Brazil on Monday afternoon. In 2024, he was arrested and investigated for alleged group sexual assault, but was released and according to multiple reports settled his case out of court. He publicly offered his "sincere apology to the victim for my actions that caused great trouble," and said he takes "the consequences of my action seriously and will strive to restore trust."
REUTERS/Eloisa Sanchez
His Japan teammate, Junya Ito, was also investigated in 2024. Ito, who denied the allegations and sued the woman who accused him, stepped away from the national team before his case was dropped by prosecutors—reportedly due to a lack of evidence, which the woman's lawyer called "extremely unjust."
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One of the biggest celebrities in global sports, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, has had a long legal battle with a woman who says he raped her in Las Vegas in 2009. The two settled in 2010 for $375,000, but she sued in 2018 claiming she had been pressured into that deal and signing a non-disclosure agreement. The case was dismissed in 2022, and she lost an appeal of that ruling in 2023.
Between 2014 and 2025, Ronaldo had not been photographed in or played a match in the U.S., but he appeared at the White House with Donald Trump in November as part of a Saudi delegation.
Portugal plays Croatia in Toronto on Thursday.
Two Argentina players have also faced accusations, and in one case, criminal charges. Gonzalo Montiel—who scored the tournament-winning penalty in 2022—was charged with sexual assault in 2023 and was acquitted the next year, with the judge citing contradictory evidence
. His teammate, Thiago Almada, was investigated by authorities for sexual assault but was not charged
.
Argentina plays Cape Verde on Friday.
The post Rape Cases Hang Over World Cup Knockout Stage appeared first on Front Office Sports .
