English soccer players held in connection with alleged sex attack

Several soccer players from English professional league team Brighton and Hove Albion were arrested in connection with an alleged sex attack, Sky News reported Thursday.

Six men were being held on suspicion of the alleged sexual assault of a woman in Brighton last July, police said.

The club, which is one promotion away from the English Premier League and managed by former Chelsea star Gus Poyet, made no comment. The identity of the players was not revealed, beyond their ages and places of residence.

Five of the men, whose ages range from 18 to 24, live in Brighton. Four were arrested at 4:20 a.m. Thursday morning, while a fifth was held in the southern coastal city a few hours later.

A sixth man, aged 20 and from the nearby county of Dorset, was held at 10:30 a.m.

The alleged attack was reported to police at the time but the suspects were only identified Jan. 13, authorities said.