Man United star released on bail

Manchester United footballer Cristiano Ronaldo was released on police bail tonight after being questioned for several hours over allegations that he raped a woman in a hotel suite.

The 20-year-old Portuguese international winger went voluntarily to a police station in Manchester with his lawyer to attend an appointment with detectives.

Ronaldo told officers he was completely innocent and has been bailed to return to police custody pending further inquiries.

Two women alleged he and another man took them back to a penthouse suite in the Sanderson Hotel in London on October 2 after they met at a nightspot.

The attack is alleged to have happened in the hotel.

Ronaldo, who has told friends he is the victim of a “stitch-up”, was arrested by officers from Scotland Yard’s Operation Sapphire team, which investigates sex crime, and who travelled up to Manchester to speak to him.

A second man in his 30s, who is said to have been with him on the night, also kept an appointment at the police station but was not arrested.

Jorge Mendes, agent of the star, was said to be out of his office in Oporto tonight, but a spokesman could not confirm whether he was visiting the UK.

British police said they could not confirm when the arrested man would be asked to return for further questioning.

The claims follow a series of high-profile cases involving sex allegations against footballers.

In September last year, two Premiership players were interviewed over an alleged gang rape at the Grosvenor House hotel in London.

The Crown Prosecution Service later decided there was insufficient evidence for them to be charged.

Also last year three Leicester City players faced allegations of sexually assaulting three women in a five-star hotel on a training camp in Spain.

They spent six nights in jail there but all charges against them were dropped.

In January last year, rape charges were dropped against ex-Chelsea player Jody Morris and a friend after they were accused of raping a woman in Leeds.

Arsenal’s Dutch striker Robin van Persie was held in jail in Rotterdam earlier this year after being accused of rape. He was released after two weeks and maintains his innocence.