NEWS :' HE GRABBED MY ASS" SAYS USA GOALIE HOPE SOLO AS SHE ACCUSES EX-FIFA PRESIDENT SEPP BLATTER OF SEXUAL HARRASSMENT.

US goalkeeper Hope Solo has accused former Fifa president Sepp Blatter of sexual harassment.

The World Cup winner, 36, says the incident happened at the 2013 Ballon d'Or awards, before she went on stage to present an award.

In an interview with Portugal newspaper Expresso, Solo - who has 202 caps - said: "I had Sepp Blatter grab my ass."

Blatter, 81, denied the incident took place, with his spokesman telling BBC Sport: "This allegation is ridiculous."

Solo, when asked why she has not spoken out on the incident before, added: "I was nervous for the presentation. It was the Ballon d'Or I was presenting.

"After that I didn't see him and that was kind of bad. I didn't get to tell him directly 'don't ever touch me'. That's the way I've always handled things - directly."

A growing number of public figures have been accused of sexual harassment in recent weeks, sparked by multiple women speaking out against the Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Solo, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, says the issue is "rampant" in women's football.

"I've seen it throughout my entire career," she said. "It's not just in Hollywood.

"For years, in the past, female players date and end up marrying their college coaches, which obviously a coach should not be doing, especially with a young player.

"I've seen it not just with coaches, I've seen it with trainers, doctors, and our press officers. I've seen it among players in the locker room. I don't know why more players don't speak out against it."

Blatter was head of the world football's governing body for 17 years, until a corruption scandal in 2015.

Fifa subsequently banned the Swiss official from the sport for eight years, a term later reduced to six years after appeal.

Solo, who holds a record 202 appearances for an American goalkeeper, expanded on her allegations in The Guardian, saying she had to quickly compose herself  before making her speech and presenting the award to Wambach.

“I was in shock and completely thrown off. I had to quickly pull myself together to present my team-mate with the biggest award of her career and celebrate with her in that moment, so I completely shifted my focus to Abby.”

It is not the first time that Solo has spoken about sexual harassment in sport. When the revelations surfaced about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, Solo took to social media to congratulate the women who had gone public with their ordeals and wrote with the #MeToo hashtag.

Her post said: “Sexual harassment is rampant in the sports world. I always felt I’d ‘handled it’ and stood up for myself in those situations, but there were never any consequences for the perpetrators. That needs to change. Silence will not change the world!”

Blatter lost his Fifa position for ethics breaches relating to a £2 million payment to the then Uefa president Michel Platini in 2011. 

He faced criticism for a series of sexist remarks, including a suggestion in 2004 that female players should wear “tighter shorts” like “they do in volleyball” to make the game more appealing to a male audience.

Credits : BBC, TelegraphOnline