Ryan Mendes cleared of rape allegation; accuser charged with false statement by New Zealand police
New Zealand police on Friday dismissed a rape allegation against Cape Verde captain Ryan Mendes over an incident alleged to have taken place at a central Auckland hotel in March, hours after a friendly against Chile in Auckland. The decision was announced by Detective Inspector Scott Beard, who said the claim had not been substantiated.
A 40-year-old woman has been charged under New Zealand’s Crimes Act with making a false statement and is expected to appear in court next week. “A decision to prosecute in these circumstances is not taken lightly and follows months of investigative work by our Adult Sexual Assault Team,” Beard said.
The alleged incident was reported to have occurred hours after Cape Verde played Chile in a friendly match in Auckland, a fixture that Chile won 4-2. Police have said the inquiry examined the circumstances surrounding that night in March before reaching the conclusion to dismiss the rape allegation.
Mendes’s lawyer, Karl Trotter, said the allegation exposed his client to intense international media scrutiny and followed him through official duties. “Mr Mendes was thrilled to finally be able to get this behind him and he regards it as a complete vindication,” Karl Trotter told the New Zealand Herald newspaper.
Trotter also called for comparable coverage of the clearance, saying: “It is to be hoped that this recent turn of events, clearing Mr Mendes of the allegation of rape, attracts the same level of media attention as the original reporting.” The subject of the allegation, he added, arose at almost every media conference Mendes attended.
Mendes is 36 years old, is Cape Verde’s most capped player with 103 appearances since his debut in 2010, and currently plays for RS Berkane in Morocco. Cape Verde qualified for the 2026 World Cup.
The immediate next step in the case is the accused woman’s expected court appearance next week on the charge of making a false statement under the Crimes Act.