The Espanyol footballer accused of raping a female employee claims the club has taken no action against him.

BarcelonaThe complainant testified last week, and this Wednesday it was the turn of Espanyol footballer Álvaro Aguado, who is being investigated for a rape at the Opium nightclub in Barcelona on June 23, 2024. The player assured the judge investigating the case that the club had not taken any action; he filed the complaint with the Mossos d'Esquadra (Spanish police) earlier this year. In his statement before Barcelona's 13th Court of Instruction, Aguado maintained that the sexual relations were consensual. Last week, she confirmed that the footballer sexually assaulted her in a bathroom at the nightclub, where around thirty people—players and club employees—were celebrating the club's promotion to the First Division.

According to legal sources, Aguado admitted to the judge that Espanyol did not activate any protocol and that he learned of the complaint because the club itself informed him. The 28-year-old footballer refused to respond to the private accusation brought by lawyer Sonia Ricondo and spent just over an hour answering questions from his defense, the judge, and the Prosecutor's Office. The player emphasized that he does not understand the reasons for the complaint and explained that he met the girl that same night, during a private party attended by a large part of the squad and several club employees.

According to the complainant, Aguado approached her the first time and expressed her discomfort with his behavior toward her. Later in the evening, in the nightclub bathroom, the events occurred, which the prosecution claims were sexual assault and the player's defense claims were consensual sexual intercourse.

When the complaint was filed a few months after the incident, the nightclub did not have security camera footage from that night. Therefore, beyond the victim's own account, the witnesses from both sides will be important, as they are summoned to testify in the coming days. Espanyol, for its part, maintains that it took no action against the footballer, whose contract expires on June 30 of this year, because it respects the presumption of innocence and because the incident did not occur at an event officially organized by the Espanyol club.