Sports

David Villa says harassment claims against him ‘entirely false’

Gijón, Spain, Jul 23 (efe-epa).- Spanish former football player David Villa on Thursday told Efe that harassment claims made by a former New York City FC employee on Twitter were “entirely false.”

The MLS club has opened a probe into the claims, which date to his time with the team between 2014-18.

“They are entirely false,” he told Efe in an interview in the northwestern city of Gijón. “I can’t get my head around how someone could think that of me.”

“I have a career spanning different clubs and the Spanish national team, where I’ve worked with more than 1,000 players, assistants, workers, club employees, many women with whom I’ve worked and no-one ever has had a complaint about me and I’ve never had a complaint about anyone in any country,” he said.

Villa added he was upset when news started reporting on the accusations published by a Twitter user.

“I saw it when I was here in Asturias with my family. It’s been two years since I left New York City and I have not spoken with anyone there and this Sunday, when I was on the beach, I saw it on social media. Yesterday or the day before is when it started echoing in some media.”

“I can’t believe there’s an accusation like that, false. It began to spread and became bigger and bigger quickly. You feel a little defenseless in that situation.”

Villa, who is Spain’s all-time top goalscorer, said he felt calm in the knowledge that the accusations were false.

“We’re sad that we’re having to go through this. I don’t think we deserve it at all, it’s something that’s out of our control and it’s incredible that it’s actually happening, it feels like a nightmare,” he said.

“But on the other hand we’re not worried, I’ve not done anything and I have a clean conscience.”

“I hope it all ends quickly and is cleared up.”

Villa said New York City FC had his full support in the investigations.

“They can call me whenever and I will tell them what I’m telling you, that it’s completely false.”

The woman who has accused Villa of harassment was identified on the social media site only as Skyler B.

She said Villa “touched” her and that the work culture encouraged the behavior.

New York City said in a statement: “New York City Football Club has learned of the allegations made by a former intern by seeing them on social media.

“We take this matter extremely seriously and do not tolerate harassment of any kind in any areas of our organization. We immediately launched an investigation into the matter.” EFE-EPA

Omb/jt

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