AN INTERNATIONAL footballer has been sacked by his club after they were accused of domestic abuse and of having an affair with a pop star.
Peruvian football star Christian Cueva saw his contract ripped up by Club Cienciano just 48 hours after signing for them.
It comes following accusations of domestic abuse were made against him by his wife Pamela Lopez Solorzano.
Lopez said on a TV show that she “feared for her life” and “suffered for many years” before reporting her husband to the police, alleging repeated physical and psychological attacks against her by the 32-year-old.
A club statement released on Tuesday said: “After concluding the internal investigation process, footballer Christian Cueva has been permanently separated from the club.
“This decision has been made in strict compliance with our values and to preserve the integrity of the institution.”
Speaking on American Hoy, via Marca, Lopez said: “There were slaps, hair pulling, pushing.
“The last thing was that he was suffocating me, covering my mouth and nose, strangling me by the neck.
“He always said insults and swears and then came back repentant.
“I fear for my life. One of them (violent episodes) was when I discovered an infidelity; and another, days before my birthday.
“For me it was a very complicated decision, very difficult, it took me many years to make it.
“But I made it for myself, for my children and for all the women who suffer the same thing that I have suffered for many years.
“I have been subjected to their manipulation. I will continue to file my complaint to the very end, for myself and for my children.”
In 2018, Lopez accused Cueva of cheating on her with Peruvian pop star Pamela Franco Viera,
A video from Marca alleges to show Cueva assaulting Lopez in a lift before a man intervenes, while another video published by AS appears to show them fighting.
The 100-cap Peru international denied being an “abuser” but admitted his behaviour had been “inexcusable”.
In a lengthy Instagram statement, he said: “Violence is inexcusable and my behaviour, although it was not spontaneous but in response, is also inexcusable.
“I have been accused of many bad things, defects that I surely have and now I am accused of being an abuser and I do not believe I am.
“I know that I have a complex personality that goes beyond what can be seen of me and I will take and will take responsibility for my actions, which does not mean that I stop defending myself and seeking to clarify, before the authorities, those events that have not been reported in the way they occurred or that simply did not occur.
“For all this, for what happened, what happened differently and even for what did not happen, I apologise.
“While the truth is sought and found in the appropriate authorities, I ask please to be allowed to play football, that this option not be taken away from me, because it is, along with my children, whom I love beyond what has been said, what sustains me.”
The former Rayo Vallecano, Santos and Sao Paolo midfielder had been without a club since February after his contract with Saudi Arabia side Al Fateh ended.
