Aaron Boupendza, an MLS player, faces imprisonment in Gabon after a sex tape reportedly involving him leaked earlier this week.
According to Senegalese outlet Senenews, the tape allegedly shows the Gabon international engaging in an intimate deed with a woman.
If proven guilty under Gabonese legislation, which outlaws the transmission of pornographic content, Boupendza faces a maximum fine of 10 million Central African Francs (£13,100) and up to five years in prison.
“Anyone who distributes, records, or transmits the image or representation of an adult when this image or this representation is of a pornographic nature is punishable by up to five years of imprisonment and a 10,000,000 FCFA fine at most,’ Article 430 of the Gabonese Penal Code states.
The Panthers failed to qualify for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, finishing third in Group I behind the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mauritania.
Boupendza has scored seven goals in 33 national team appearances, including the game-winner in Gabon’s 1-0 victory over the Comoros in their first AFCON match two years ago.
He started five of Gabon’s six AFCON qualifiers in the last 18 months but was not included in the squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Kenya and Burundi in November.
The Gabonese FA stated that Boupendza’s absence was due to his late arrival in camp during the international window.
A month earlier, the former Bordeaux striker missed FC Cincinnati’s regular-season finale against Atlanta United due to a late return from international duty.
Following Boupendza’s exclusion from the Gabon camp in November, FC Cincinnati general manager Chris Albright claimed the MLS club completely supported their attacker.
“We’re fully in support of Aaron, and there’s no discipline to come out of FC Cincinnati,” he told The Cincinnati Enquirer.
“One, we support him, and, two, it’s not our issue anyway. We’re looking forward to him being back in training.”
Albright also questioned the notion that his late return to Cincinnati in October and subsequent late arrival on international assignment a month later indicated a disturbing trend.
“They’re completely separate things. Not interrelated,” he said.
“We’re supporting Aaron on this one.”
Boupendza signed with Cincinnati from Saudi Arabian club Al-Shabab in July for £5.6 million and had an immediate impact, scoring six goals in 14 games, including the playoffs.
His prolific output helped the Orange and Blue win their first MLS Supporters’ Shield, the trophy granted to the team with the best regular season record, with three games to spare.
Cincinnati advanced to the Eastern Conference finals but were eliminated by eventual MLS champions the Columbus Crew after wasting a two-goal lead and losing 3-2.
