No charges against Gomis and Benalouane

French footballers Bafetimbi Gomis and Yohan Benalouane, who are facing allegations of rape, were classed as “assisted witnesses” yesterday but were not charged.

“Mr Gomis has been placed under the statute of assisted witness. He has not been charged.

“There are no constraints on him. This will allow the investigation to continue and the presumption of innocence of Mr Gomis,” said the Lyon striker’s lawyer Jean-Felix Luciani.

On Friday afternoon, the prosecutor had opened a case which required the two men to be placed under judicial supervision pending trial.

The statute of assisted witness under French law is half-way between that of a simple witness, against whom there is no charge pending, and that of an individual facing criminal charges.

An assisted witness cannot be placed in detention.

Gomis, 26, and Benalouane, 25, who plays in Italy for Cesena, have been accused of rape by a 38-year-old woman. Both men deny the allegations.

The woman’s lawyer Valerie Saniossian said that her client “reiterates that she was the victim of an attack”.

“It is clear that there has been a rape,” Saniossian said.

Investigators are believed to be trying to restore video footage of a sexual encounter that was filmed on a mobile telephone but then wiped.