Despite most footballers being under lockdown, a number of players have still managed to get themselves locked up in 2020. Here are nine footballers from the past and present who have been arrested this year. 

The year 2020 has been a difficult one for most people due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but it’s particularly bad for a number of current and former pros who have been arrested for crimes as wide-ranging as breaking lockdown restrictions to committing murder.

READ: Arrested Chelsea star accused of rape

Scroll through the gallery above to see nine past and present footballers who have been arrested in 2020

The headline arrest took place before the world was rocked by the coronavirus pandemic, when Brazil legend Ronaldinho was locked up alongside his brother Roberto Assis for entering Paraguay with fake travel documents. The siblings have since been implicated in a wider money laundering scheme, and are currently under house arrest.

More recently, Chelsea and England star Callum Hudson-Odoi was arrested on suspicion of rape, while former Real Madrid striker Edwin Congo was nabbed as part of an ongoing investigation into illicit drug trade in Spain earlier in the month.

READ: SA’s most valuable players abroad

In Turkey, 32-year-old defender Cevher Toktas handed himself in for killing his five-year-old son, while in France, Algeria international Farid El Melali was arrested and charged with sexual exhibition after being caught masturbating in public. 

A number of other players, including former Newcastle United star Nolberto Solano, have been arrested for breaking lockdown regulations in their respective countries, while one player from Iran was thrown behind bars for speaking out against his government’s handling of the pandemic. 

TWO Charlton Athletic starlets accused of a sex attack on a Brit tourist in Ibiza could languish in a Spanish jail on remand for years.

Forwards Reeco Hackett-Fairchild, 20, and Karlan Ahearne-Grant, also 20, were arrested on Tuesday after a 19-year-old girl was attacked at a hotel in Cala de Bou, near the party resort of San Antonio.

Paul Edwards – The Sun

Paul Edwards – The Sun

The promising pair could face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty of raping her.

An unnamed third British suspect aged 26, who is accused of being the sex attacker, was arrested on Wednesday and also appeared today.

One of the young footballers allegedly held the girl down during the assault while the other filmed it, sources said.

The trio were led into the courthouse in Ibiza town centre in handcuffs by Spanish police.

Paul Edwards – The Sun

PA:Empics Sport

PA:Empics Sport

Legal experts told how they could face being banged up on remand for years.

One Spanish lawyer, who did not want to be named, told The Sun: “The time limit for a case to come to court is theoretically two years, but a judge can even extend that period if needed.

“Usually a case like this should be dealt with and be ready to go to trial in six months.”

Sexual aggression charges can carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail in Spain if two or more people take part or there is violence.

PA:Empics Sport

Paul Edwards – The Sun

Paul Edwards – The Sun

The alleged attack took place after the players partied at the Ocean Beach celeb hangout in San Antonio.

The popular club is run by Gary Lineker’s brother Wayne.

The girl and a female friend met the footballers and agreed to go back to their Cala de Bou hotel with them.

She reported the alleged assault after her parents discovered what had happened.

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Alamy

A source said: “The third man held is the suspected sex attacker.

“One of the two other men is suspected of holding the woman down during the alleged sex attack and the other of recording it.”

The trio, who were all thought to be on holiday in Ibiza, were quizzed throughout the afternoon by an investigating magistrate behind closed doors.

The hearing could see the magistrate dismiss the case, remand them in custody or release them on bail.

The first two arrests are understood to have happened around 6.40am on Tuesday.

Cala de Bou, which is in the municipality of San Jose, is a popular location for tourists looking to stay somewhere quieter than San Antonio but within easy reach of the party resort.

A Charlton Athletic spokesman said: “The club have been made aware and are looking into this matter.

“Due to the ongoing investigation we will not be commenting any further at this stage.”

Ahearne-Grant, born in Greenwich is a forward who signed with Charlton as a 17-year-old in September 2014.

He has made more than 60 appearances with the club in Championship and League One football and has played for England at U17, U18 and U19.

Redbridge born Hackett-Fairchild made his professional debut with Charlton in August last year, and hit the net twice in 12 appearances.

He has previously spent time with Dagenham & Redbridge and Dulwich Hamlet.

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