The Cape Verde player under police investigation for an alleged sex attack at an Auckland hotel has been selected for their World Cup squad. The Blue Sharks announced their squad for their first ever appearance at the festival of football on Tuesday, making them the fourteenth of the 48 nations involved to reveal their selections; Australia are still yet to name their final squad.
Incident at FIFA Series
The alleged incident took place during the FIFA Series in March, a tournament that includes New Zealand, Finland, Chile and Cape Verde. According to reports, the attack allegedly took place at the Cape Verde team hotel shortly after their match against Chile at Eden Park on Friday, March 27. The complaint involves a player who is part of the Cape Verde national team, according to the New Zealand Herald.
New Zealand police responded to the Herald: "Police can confirm an allegation is under investigation, reported to us on April 10, 2026, in central Auckland. We are unable to comment further at this time."
FIFA and New Zealand Football Involved
New Zealand Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell confirmed the organisation has been in touch with FIFA. "We've raised it with FIFA based on the media reports," Pragnell said. "They'd also had somebody reach out to them, so they're aware of the situation and monitoring it closely." New Zealand Football held an organising role in the FIFA series where the alleged attack took place but is yet to contact Cape Verde over the matter.
"Obviously, because the police are investigating, it's really important that the police process follows its course," Pragnell said last week. "That needs to take place in the very first instance, before any other kind of actions." He added: "No, they haven't, I would hope that they're well aware of it given the seriousness of the [allegation] and I would expect that the police would have been in touch with them."
Pragnell admitted that the nature of the allegation was disturbing: "Yes, I think any serious allegation like this is concerning. The key is that it's investigated in full by the police. New Zealand Police haven't been in touch with us but if they were, we would obviously assist in any way we can."
Cape Verde's Historic World Cup Qualification
The Blue Sharks will feature at their first ever World Cup when the tournament kicks off next month. They qualified back in October after beating Eswatini 3-0 and topping their qualifying group. That makes them the second-smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup, with only Curacao, who also qualified for this summer's tournament, being smaller.
