Blatter grabbed my a** 4 years ago ―Hope Solo

Hope Solo and Sepp Blatter at the Ballon d’Or awards ceremony in 2013, at which the USA goalkeeper claims she had the former Fifa president ‘grab my ass’. Photograph: Christof Koepsel/Getty Images

The former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been accused of sexual assault by former USA women’s goalkeeper Hope Solo.

The 36-year-old claims the former FIFA president ‘grabbed her ass’ at the Ballon d’Or awards in 2013, during which the pair presented the women’s World Player of the Year award.

Solo made the accusation in an interview with Portuguese newspaper Expresso, that was published on Saturday.

Blatter, contacted via his spokesman, responded to Solo’s recollection by denying that the incident took place. “This allegation is ridiculous,” he said.

On the official Fifa film of the event, which was hosted by the Dutch football legend Ruud Gullit and the broadcaster Kay Murray, Solo was shown coming on to the stage with Blatter from behind a curtain at the back of the stage, to present the award to Wambach. Talking to Expresso about sexual harassment in general, which Solo says is “rampant” in sport, she claimed Blatter grabbed her behind seconds before they both went on stage: “I had Sepp Blatter grab my ass,” she said. “It was at the Ballon d’Or, right before I went on stage. [Sexual harassment] has been normalised.”

Expanding on the alleged incident on Friday, Solo told the Guardian that she had to compose herself immediately afterwards to concentrate on making her speech and giving the presentation to Wambach. “I was in shock and completely thrown off,” Solo said. “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.”

Blatter, 81, who was elected as FIFA president in 1998, was banned by the governing body for ethics breaches relating to a £1.35m payment made to the then UEFA president Michel Platini in 2011.

She also said sexual harassment in sport must be dealt with: “While in this instance it was Sepp Blatter, who was the most powerful man in football at the time, sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour are rampant at every level in women’s sport and it needs to stop.”