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Villa denies involvement in rape case

Aston Villa yesterday became the first Premier League club to publicly deny that any of its players were involved in the alleged gang rape of a teenage girl in London.

A newspaper, meanwhile, reported that a Chelsea player was at the center of the case.

Police are investigating allegations that a 17-year-old schoolgirl was raped or sexually assaulted by up to eight players at a luxury hotel in London in the early hours of last Saturday morning.

No arrests have been made, and the names of the clubs and players allegedly involved have not been released by police.

Newspapers claim they know the identities but can not report them for legal reasons. Names have circulated widely on the Internet.

Aston Villa, a Birmingham club, was one of six Premier League teams playing in London last weekend.

"We can categorically confirm that neither Aston Villa nor any of its players are being investigation in relation to the alleged incident in London at the weekend," a club statement said.

Three Premier League games were played in London over the weekend: Arsenal-Newcastle on Friday night, Chelsea-Aston Villa on Saturday and Charlton-Liverpool on Sunday.

According to British newspaper and broadcast reports, the girl agreed to have sex with one Premier League player at the five-star Grosvenor House hotel. She reportedly alleges that seven other players entered the room and some, or all, raped or sexually assaulted her.

The Sun, the mass-selling tabloid which broke the story Monday, reported on its front page Thursday that a Chelsea player was at the center of the investigation.

The paper said he was the player with whom the girl had agreed to have sex. Police want to question the player to determine whether he is a suspect or a witness in the case, The Sun said.

In another twist, the paper ran a front-page photo of a player identified as an England international -- with his face blacked out -- who has been linked to the case.

The photo shows the player leaving a London restaurant at 2:45am last Saturday, which reportedly supports his alibi that he slept with another woman at the hotel and was not involved in the alleged rape.

The Sun said the England player booked several rooms at the hotel, including the one where the girl was allegedly attacked.

The player was fined ?90,000 (US$144,000) by his club and called a "village idiot" by his manager for being linked to the case, The Sun said.
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