Striker Van Persie to stay in custody

A Rotterdam court decided yesterday to keep Arsenal's Dutch forward Robin van Persie in custody for another 14 days on suspicion of rape, a public prosecutor said. The 21-year-old Van Persie was arrested in Rotterdam on Monday following an alleged...

A Rotterdam court decided yesterday to keep Arsenal's Dutch forward Robin van Persie in custody for another 14 days on suspicion of rape, a public prosecutor said.

The 21-year-old Van Persie was arrested in Rotterdam on Monday following an alleged incident over the weekend.

"The public prosecutors' office has asked for the custody to be prolonged in the interest of the investigation and because of the seriousness of the charges," the Rotterdam prosecutors' office said in a statement.

It added that the court had put Van Persie under restrictions, which meant no further statements could be made.

The hearing was behind closed doors.

Dutch news agency ANP quoted Van Persie's lawyer Abraham Moszkowicz as saying his client denied any wrongdoing.

Moszkowicz, one of the Netherlands' top criminal trial lawyers, said he had informed Arsenal about the situation, adding the club was behind their player.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.