Published 12:59 IST, November 24th 2020
David Villa sexual harassment case: Ex-NYCFC intern says club ignored her complaints
David Villa sexual harassment case: A former intern at NYCFC revealed how she was touched inappropriately by the Spain legend during her time at the MLS club.
A former intern at MLS club New York City FC has shockingly claimed that she was sexually harassed by Spain legend, David Villa during their time at the football club. The accuser, Skyler Badillo, has spilt the beans on her "nightmare" spell while working at the MLS club and also accused NYCFC officials of not taking her complaints more seriously at the time. A spokesperson for Villa later claimed Badillo's allegations were simply "untrue".
David Villa sexual harassment case: Former NYCFC intern reveals shocking details about her time at the club
In a lengthy interview with The Athletic, Skyler Badillo spoke about her horrific time at NYCFC, which eventually led to her changing her career. By her own admission, Badillo was 20 at the time she joined NYFC as an intern when Villa had asked her if she wanted to accompany him for a drink. "He (Villa) asked me if I wanted to drink alcohol with him and offered to buy me any choice of drink I wanted to invite me to a party he was having at his apartment," she said
"I told him I don't really drink because I'm still under the age limit, but he kept persisting. I then informed NYCFC assistant trainer Melvyn Pamplona about this and told him I wasn't comfortable with these questions, but he just said to me 'It's only a question'. I was left shocked."
Badillo, who worked with NYCFC for two seasons, then revealed that she was always touched inappropriately by Villa every day that she came into work. "I've been to a lot of countries and know quite a bit about the culture. Lots of athletes I worked with kissed me on the cheek, they hug me, and I was ok with that. We had players from 14 different countries at the club but I don't know why I had issues with only one player - David Villa."
In July, Badillo had taken to Twitter to post a series of messages about her time at the MLS club. She wrote, “I thought I was getting the opportunity of a lifetime when I got that internship. What I got was David Villa touching me every f****** day and my bosses thinking it was great comedic material." Villa strongly denied Badillo's accusations at the time.
Villa, who scored 77 goals in 117 appearances for NYCFC, left the MLS club in 2018. The club launched an investigation into Badillo’s allegations this summer and concluded there had been failings in its system, but did not mention the Spanish World Cup winner by name.
Image Credits - David Villa Instagram
Updated 12:59 IST, November 24th 2020