American Female Goalkeeper Hope Solo Says Sepp Blatter Grabbed Her Inappropriately

United States goalkeeper Hope Solo has accused former FIFA president Sepp Blatter of “grabbing” her inappropriately.

In an interview with Portuguese newspaper Expresso, the World Cup winner claimed: “I had Sepp Blatter grab my ass.”

Blatter, 81, who ran the sport’s world governing body from 1998 to 2015, told Expresso the allegation was “ridiculous” via his spokesman.

Solo, 36, said the incident occurred while presenting an award at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in 2013, when she presented the FIFA women’s world player of the year award alongside Blatter.

The goalkeeper also told the newspaper she thought sexual harassment had been “normalised” in sport and she wished more women spoke out about the issue.

FIFA’s corruption scandal forced Blatter to resign in 2015 and later that year the organisation’s ethics committee imposed an eight-year ban from the game on him, which was reduced to six years on appeal.