An international footballer has been accused of trying to lure a 14-year-old British girl behind a hedge for a ‘cuddle’ after approaching her at a five-star resort in Turkey.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the teenager’s father said his daughter was left panicking and in tears after the incident, which occurred whilst she was by the pool alone with her ten-year-old sister.
The family’s holiday took what was initially an exciting turn in late May when they realised they were staying at the same hotel as a World Cup-bound football team.
While the starstruck family enjoyed exchanging friendly greetings with the players, things turned sour on May 24.
The trouble began right after lunch when the father and some of the family went for ice cream, leaving the two girls lounging by the pool.
‘We were getting ice cream when my partner’s phone rang and it was my daughter crying her eyes out,’ the father recounted. ‘She asked us to hurry up and come to the pool.’
Upon arrival, they learned from his daughter that a footballer had approached her by the sun loungers.
Excited to meet a celebrity, the 14-year-old asked for a photo, after which he took her phone, entered his Instagram details and messaged himself from her account.
The British girl and the player posed for this selfie
After she confirmed her age, the footballer allegedly called her ‘hot’ and asked for a cuddle.
When she refused, he insisted, asking her to come behind a hedge ‘where no one could see’.
Panicking, she told him her dad was on his way after which he hid on the other side of the pool.
Furious about the incident, the father immediately notified hotel management.
He later received a call from reception and met the team’s coach and staff, who offered their apologies.
‘I don’t want an apology from you,’ the father said, demanding instead to confront the player about harassing young girls.
The staff and coach assured him the player would issue a personal apology and would be removed from the hotel.
While the incident was unfolding, the father’s partner discovered another young guest at the hotel who had allegedly also been approached by the footballer.
He said: ‘My partner met another British mother who said her 15-year-old daughter had also been approached inappropriately by the same player.
‘We tried to persuade her to go to the police with us, but she said she didn’t think anything would come of it because it was “part of their culture” to behave that way.’
In a further blow, the father said he discovered the following day that the player had not been removed from the hotel and was denying any wrongdoing.
The footballer had claimed the girl asked him for a photograph and that nothing inappropriate had happened.
The father said he challenged hotel management over the lack of evidence, asking: ‘You must have CCTV somewhere that can prove what happened.’
But he was told there was no CCTV footage and that the player was denying any wrongdoing, leaving it as ‘his word against hers’.
According to the father, hotel staff told the family to contact police if they wished to pursue the matter further.
He added: ‘I said to the hotel, “So you’re happy to have this kind of thing going on at your hotel and you’re not going to do anything about it?”‘
Panicking, the girl told the footballer that her dad was on his way after which he hid on the other side of the pool (Pictured: the footballer leaving)
With only one day of their holiday remaining, the father decided to wait until returning to Britain before attempting to raise the issue more widely.
He has since contacted the Turkish authorities and his local MP to raise his concerns about the player’s behaviour.
The father believes the hotel failed to take the complaint seriously.
‘I felt the hotel prioritised them. There was no security in place for anything like that, and because of the football team’s profile it seemed they were being treated differently. It felt like they could get away with what they wanted,’ he said.
He also feared that the player would approach other young guests.
‘My concern was that as soon as we left, he’d be back around the pool doing the same thing to other children,’ he added.
The player’s football club and the hotel have been contacted for comment.
