Marseille striker Brandao is expected to be charged with rape after the alleged victim denied reports that she had withdrawn her complaint.

The Brazilian, 30, was accused of assaulting a 23-year-old woman at a motorway rest area after he offered to drive her home from a nightclub last week.

He has been released on bail after denying the accusation to a local magistrate, while police and judiciary confer to see if evidence exists for charges to be brought.

There had been reports on Wednesday that the alleged victim had decided not to press charges, but her lawyer insisted this was not the case.

“She made her civil complaint this morning and regards herself as the victim of a rape,” lawyer Olivier Grimaldi was quoted as saying by l’Equipe.

“The matter is with the judiciary. She was shocked to hear that she had withdrawn the complaint.”

Brandao’s lawyer, Patricia Clusan, had earlier said her client admitted to having sex with the woman but insisted it was consensual.

Marseille manager Didier Deschamps said that several Marseille players were being spoken to as witnesses as they had been present in the nightclub.

Eurosport