A leading figure in Premier League football who was interviewed recently by the police over a rape allegation was at the centre of another probe into a separate allegation that he had raped a 15-year-old girl, an investigation by The Athletic has found.

While detectives continue to examine the ongoing complaint, it has emerged that he was simultaneously being investigated by a second police force for an alleged rape and possible child-sex offence from the 1990s.

The second alleged victim, known as Woman B, contacted the relevant police force towards the end of 2021 and her complaint was referred to its specialist unit for investigating sexual offences against under-16s. She alleged the rape took place at the man’s house.

However, detectives investigating Woman B’s complaint realised it was affected by a little-known legal anomaly — under the 1956 Sexual Offences Act, the UK parliament’s legislation of the time for England and Wales — which children’s charity NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) has described as “devastating” and “heartbreaking” for the people it works against.

Police informed Woman B she had waited too long to report the matter, because the legislation states that if the alleged offence took place between 1956 and 2004, and the alleged victim was a girl aged 13 to 15, she had to make a complaint within a year. The time limit was abandoned when the 2003 Sexual Offences Act came into place in May 2004 but still applied if the alleged attack happened in the previous 48 years. The legislation applied only to girls aged 13 to 15, not boys.

After what the police have described as a complex investigation, a decision was taken by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for no further action to be taken in the case of Woman B. The man was not arrested and the case has been left on file.

Victims of alleged sexual offences are granted anonymity for life under UK law. The man’s identity is known to The Athletic but cannot be reported because of privacy rules in the UK to grant anonymity to suspects in the early stages of a police investigation.

Those rules remain in place unless the relevant person is charged with a criminal offence, at which point he or she can be named. Otherwise, any media outlet that publishes details leading to that person’s identification can be open to a privacy action.

Read more: What we can and cannot report when a footballer is arrested

Under that cloak of anonymity, the man voluntarily attended a police station on June 12, accompanied by a solicitor, to answer the ongoing allegation from Woman A that he had committed a non-recent rape. He was interviewed under caution but not arrested.

The age of Woman A has not been released, and there was no mention of it whatsoever in a statement issued by London’s Metropolitan Police.

“On Thursday, 23 September, 2021, the Met received a crime report regarding a historic rape allegation,” it read. “On Monday, 12 June, a man (age redacted) was interviewed under caution.”

The Athletic has asked the Met on a number of occasions to clarify the age of Woman A at the time of the alleged offence. However, the force has declined to comment, other than stating she was a teenager then.

Her age is significant for a number of reasons, not least because of the charges that would be open potentially to the CPS when it comes to deciding whether the alleged offender ought to be put in front of the courts.

But it is also relevant because if the Football Association is aware that somebody within the sport has been accused of child-sex offences — making that person, in theory, a potential risk to girls or boys of a certain age — it has the power to suspend that individual under its safeguarding procedures.

“We have robust safeguarding measures in place, and all referrals in to us are handled in line with our policies and procedures,“ said an FA spokesman in a statement. ”We investigate and assess all allegations and concerns about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children and adults in football and, where applicable, can impose proportionate safeguarding measures in accordance with FA safeguarding regulations. We do not comment on individual cases.”

The man in question continues to work in football and has not been subject to these measures.

His case involving Woman A and the Metropolitan Police remains ongoing, whereas the separate investigation involving the 15-year-old in another part of the country has been inactive since the decision not to press charges.

“Following a complex initial investigation and consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, no arrests were made and no prosecution was pursued,” read a statement from the police force that dealt with Woman B’s complaint (the name of the force cannot be mentioned for legal reasons). “No investigation is ever closed and should new lines of enquiry emerge, the investigation could be reviewed.”

If you would like to talk to someone having read this article, you can call the Samaritans in the UK free any time, from any phone, on 116 123.

(Top photo: Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)