Sevilla midfielder Gary Medel has been arrested in Chile for allegedly assaulting a journalist, reports Europa Press.
Medel was detained at Santiago international airport after being taken off a plane that was returning him to Spain following an outstanding performance for Chile in the 2-1 midweek defeat to Argentina.
The 25-year-old was due back in Sevilla for training on Thursday but was taken into police custody after a female journalist, who works for a TV showbiz programme, claimed he had pushed her after she had attempted to interview him.
However, Medel – nicknamed Pitbull – was later freed and returned to his home in the Chilean capital to await a connecting flight to Madrid.
“Medel is free to go after the prosecutor found that journalist Natalie Marambo did not suffer any type of injury, as she had reported,” said a police spokesperson.
It is not the first time the controversial Medel has been involved in incidents while on international duty. Back in June this year he was accused of making death threats to a driver he had been arguing with outside a supermarket in Santiago, after which he was ordered to stay at least 200 metres away from the individual for a period of 12 months and a toy weapon used in the incident was destroyed.
This came just two weeks after being dropped from the Chile squad for a game with Venezuela, along with Eduardo Vargas, after the pair were spotted in a Santiago nightclub in the early hours of the morning.
His escapades have not been confined to off the pitch, either, as he received a straight red card against Barcelona earlier this season for an apparent headbutt on Cesc Fabregas.
