2016, Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea was accused of sexual assault. This came on the eve of Euro 2016 a tournament in which De Gea was to cement his position in Spain squad.
The goalkeeper strenuously denied the accusations at the time, with no evidence found to press charges — but Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed misgivings and said he “didn’t feel comfortable” with De Gea representing Spain at the tournament.
Sanchez met the Spain team last week, when he attempted to ease the tension by apologizing in person to De Gea.
But the 27 year old has said he wants more from the Prime Minister. He wants a public apology.
“I politely accepted his apology,” De Gea told Diario AS as he prepared for Spain’s 2018 World Cup campaign in Russia. “The issue is that what he said back in the day was in public and that is why I think the apology should also be a public one.
“It’s also true that the majority of people in the public eye that disrespected me have not even apologized to me in private.
“It’s easy to talk about others in this country. I always said that it was a lie and yet people continued saying that I should not go to the national team.
“In the end, things are proven and we saw that it was all a lie. It personally didn’t affect me much but obviously I have people close to me that are affected by this more than me. But it’s water under the bridge.”