London, October 20:

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo was arrested on Wednesday and questioned on suspicion of rape, reports said.

Scotland Yard said two men went to a police station in Manchester and were questioned in connection with an allegation of a serious sexual assault at a central London hotel.

One of them, said be in his 30s, was released. The other, in his 20s, was arrested and detained for questioning by members of the police force’s Operation Sapphire team, which specialises in rape investigations. Scotland Yard declined to identify the two men or give any other information relating to the allegations. The man in his 20s was released on bail pending further inquiries at a future date, Scotland Yard said late Wednesday.

According to the Press Association and Sky News, the man arrested was 20-year-old Portugal international Ronaldo. The PA reported that the woman said she was sexually assaulted in a penthouse suite at the Sanderson Hotel in central London on October 2.

“We’re not commenting at the moment,” Manchester United director of communications Phil Townsend said. United’s assistant manager, Carlos Queiro, said that Ronaldo had gone to the police station volunterily and by appointment.

Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, denied the accusation. The rape allegation was a product of “the imagination and fantasies of the young women behind the claim,” Mendes said in a statement sent to the Portuguese news agency Lusa. Mendes also said the claim was made only after the accusers failed to sell their story to a British newspaper, Lusa reported.