Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has been charged with two additional counts of rape in addition to earlier charges of rape and sexual assault, English prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Mendy has not yet formally entered a plea but his lawyer said the player has denied the allegations.
The 27-year-old, who was earlier charged with four counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, has been in custody since August.
The charges against Mendy are alleged to have taken place between October 2020 and August 2021. He last played for City against Tottenham Hotspur on Aug. 15 and was suspended later that month.
Another man, Louis Saha Matturie, 40, has been charged with two additional counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in relation to the alleged attacks.
“The CPS has authorised Cheshire Constabulary to charge two men in connection with additional allegations of serious sexual assault,” the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mendy’s lawyers have previously strenuously denied the allegations. Neither men’s lawyers could be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Both will appear at the Stockport Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
France international Mendy signed for City from Ligue 1 side AS Monaco in 2017 for a fee in the region of 52 million pounds.
REUTERS