Cape Verde national team manager Bubista and defender Stopira stayed silent on reports the team captain Ryan Mendes is being investigated for a sexual assault that allegedly occurred during a team trip to New Zealand earlier this year.
Cape Verde meets Argentina in a round of 32 match Friday, July 3, and the two spoke at the pre-match news conference the day before the game. But they did not speak about the accusations that were brought into the public eye since the last time Cape Verde played a match.
After the news conference opened with a request from the team media officer to ask only questions about the match with Argentina, a reporter speaking English began to ask about the Mendes case. He was cut off by the same media officer, who again stated the pair would take questions only about the game.
After a few moments, another question was asked about soccer and the news conference continued. Another English-speaking journalist asked if the allegations were being taken seriously, with the coach and player staying silent – until the press conference moderator again jumped in.
“The team has already said they’re just answering questions about the match," FIFA's press officer said, before the team media officer said, "Just the match please. Next.”
A Brazilian reporter made an effort to ask about the captain more generally, but ran into the same treatment, asking. "Isn’t it important to understand how he is mentally? That’s the question." when his inquiry was rebuffed.
The New Zealand Herald and Brazilian outlet Globo have reported on the accusations against Mendes,made by a Brazilian woman who was working as a translator when Cape Verde was in New Zealand as part of a group of friendlies organized by FIFA called the FIFA Series.
The woman told authorities that Mendes came into her hotel room in Auckland and physically and sexually assaulted her, according to Globo. She reported the attack to authorities and underwent a sexual assault examination.
It is unclear if Mendes will see the field against Argentina, but the indications are that he would be cleared to play should Bubista want to include him in the team.
FIFA told USA TODAY in a statement that it takes "any allegation of misconduct extremely seriously" and said it "is in contact with the New Zealand authorities. Please understand we cannot comment further at this stage.”
Cape Verde has made a remarkable run to the knockout stage, becoming the country with the smallest population ever to make the knockout stage by achieving a trio of draws, a stunning scoreless draw with Spain, a 2-2 back-and-forth stalemate with Uruguay and another 0-0 game with Saudi Arabia.
That, combined with Uruguay's failure to get a result with Spain on the final day, saw the African nation advance to the upcoming contest with the reigning world champion Argentina.
When Bubista did speak, he expressed confidence that his team will be able to compete despite facing an Argentina team with much more recognizable stars and a longer soccer history.
"This belief, this conviction in our team has been very helpful," Bubista said. "We are facing the current world champion and we will play with courage. We’ll be bold and try to have a good match, fight for qualification with determination.
"We want the players to enjoy the match, of course, but to be focused and do everything to go to the next phase."
Mendes, a winger who plays his club soccer with Turkish side Igdir, started all three of Cape Verdes' group stage matches, playing all 90 minutes of the first two.
Source: USA Today
