Manchester United winger Antony has been accused of assaulting a woman who had visited him on a business trip in Manchester.
The Athletic reports that one of the three women accusing Antony has claimed she was assaulted by the Brazil international, and was then told by a member of the player's entourage to keep quiet.
Authorities in Brazil and Greater Manchester Police are currently investigating the 23-year-old after allegations from his ex-girlfriend, Gabriela Cavallin, accusing him of two separate assaults.
Two other women, Rayssa de Freitas and Ingrid Lana, have since come forward with further allegations, which Antony continues to deny. Manchester United have confirmed that the player will take an "indefinite" leave of absence.
Lana has claimed that she had known Antony for a number of years before she was invited to England in September 2022. She says that she believed the purpose of the trip was purely business.
She claims that Antony knocked on her door in the early hours of the morning, grabbed her, pushed her against a wall, and attempted to kiss her. The encounter, she claims, happened the night before a United fixture, while the winger claims the interaction was consensual.
Lana said that a member of Antony's entourage then told her not to share what had happened, and to block journalists who attempted to speak with her on social media.
She told Record TV: “My clients have always respected me. I didn’t imagine that he would want something else when I arrived there. He knocked on my door at 2am, saying that he had hurt his toe and asking if I knew how to put a dressing on. I said that I didn’t know, that I wasn’t a nurse. I asked why he didn’t ask the Manchester United staff to do it, because he had just arrived.
“He said, ‘I want to talk about the (business proposal)’. I said, ‘Sure, but I don’t think it’s the right time, Antony’. He said, ‘No, just quickly, because tomorrow I have a game and I won’t have time to speak with you. You’ll only be able to speak to Emerson (Antony’s brother)’.
"I let him enter, the door remained open, and he tried to kiss me.
“I said, ‘No,’ and he grabbed me. He pushed me against the wall and I banged my head. He said, ‘It will be really quick, come on, stop complaining because you want it too’. He said that before pushing me. ‘You want it too, it will be quick, stop that.’
“I found it strange. I said, ‘This isn’t the person I know. I didn’t come for that’. That’s when he said sorry. I crouched down, my eyes filled with tears. I said, ‘You changed. What’s happening?’ He said, ‘Forgive me,’ and he left the room.
“The next day, I already wanted to go home. I thought, ‘I don’t deserve this. I don’t accept this situation. Did I study for nearly eight years of my life for this? No. And I left’."
Antony released a statement to Record TV to rebut the claims made by Lana; within it, he claims the "encounter" was both "intimate" and "consensual".
It read: “When she went to Portugal for her cousin’s birthday, I asked her to come and meet me in Manchester, with the clear intention that it we would meet intimately. She even asked me whether I preferred red or white lingerie. I booked her flight and reserved a hotel for her. I met her at the hotel in question."
“We had an intimate, consensual encounter. Despite her insisting that we meet again for another intimate encounter, my schedule meant I couldn’t see her again before she returned to Brazil. I have not met with her since then. All of what I say is indubitably backed up by our messages, which I’m only not publishing in full in order to preserve the right to privacy. However, I will make them available to the authorities if that’s what is required to prove my innocence.”
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