Six Grenoble rugby players including two Irishmen, two New Zealanders and an Australian, were detained Wednesday following a rape complaint, prosecutors said.
Prop Denis Coulson and centre Chris Farrel, both from Ireland, Australian lock Peter Kimlin and New Zealander back row men Rory Grice and Dylan Hayes, were detained along with French hooker Loick Jammes.
They are being questioned following a complaint by a young woman that she had been raped by the players after meeting them at a nightclub in Bordeaux following their Top 14 match against Bordeaux-Begles on Saturday, March 11. The complaint was filed the following day.
Bordeaux police investigating the complaint were dispatched to Grenoble to carry out the questioning of the players who arrived at the Grenoble police station at around 8:40am CET on Wednesday.
Three were accompanied by lawyers while the other three were apparently not represented and entered the police station through a back door.
Police also questioned Grenoble club official Michel Martinez for two hours at the police station as a witness, the Dauphine Libere newspaper reported. It said several other Grenoble club officials and players were also expected to be questioned during the day as witnesses.
On Friday the club which is struggling to avoid relegation from the elite Top 14 division sacked the players who were under investigation without releasing their identities.
The alleged victim of the attack told police she met several Grenoble players in a nightclub after the club’s Top 14 defeat in Bordeaux. She alleged that they later took her to a hotel room where the rape occurred.
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