Photo/Illutration Kaishu Sano, left, plays in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Asian Qualification Round 2 at Panasonic Stadium Suita in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, on Nov. 16. (Takuya Tanabe)

The Metropolitan Police Department arrested soccer star Kaishu Sano, who has been selected for the Japanese national team, on suspicion of engaging in nonconsensual sexual acts on July 14, investigative sources said.

Sano, 23, and two other men in their 20s allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in her 30s in a hotel room in the Yushima district of Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward from around 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. on July 14.

It is not known if Sano and the two other men are denying the accusations, according to sources. Sano and the men know each other.

Another woman present earlier in the evening and the three men including Sano were acquainted with one another.

The woman and the alleged victim, and the three men went to dinner in Tokyo on the night of July 13.

Then, the five people went to the hotel room and the woman who knows the three men left the site.

Shortly after 4 a.m. on July 14, the victim called police saying she had been sexually assaulted.

The three men including Sano were arrested near the site.

Sano, who plays as a midfielder, graduated from Yonago Kita High School in Tottori Prefecture.

He has been selected as a member of Japan's national soccer team in November 2023 to play in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Asian Qualification Round 2.

He announced this month that he will transfer from the Kashima Antlers of the J.League to Mainz of Germany’s top league.

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