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Whitecaps sporting director Axel Schuster, who was not part of the team or the process of Blondell’s transfer, said the team was aware of the issue at the time, but that Blondell had said it was a “personal matter” and immediately stressed his innocence. Schuster added that Blondell has since been back to Vancouver to be interviewed by authorities.

The Whitecaps executive also said the team was told by Blondell’s attorney there was a publication ban surrounding the case, although court documents only list restrictions on reporting on the alleged victim or details of the bail hearing.

“It is an ongoing issue. So as long as it’s ongoing, there’s nothing we can say,” said Schuster.

Blondell was keen to move on and make a fresh start after the 2018 season, Schuster added, and that desire to play elsewhere was strictly motivated by soccer-related matters. Once Blondell was on loan to Huachipato in January 2019 — he was charged later that year — the Whitecaps’ stance was he was no longer an employee of the club, and that they merely held his financial rights.

Blondell, who was 23 when he signed with the Whitecaps, had just one goal in 18 appearances for the team in 2018 — including three starts and six substitute appearances after May 11 that season.

Internal documents from MLS detailing his suspension were tweeted out Wednesday morning by Mario Alberto Sánchez, owner of a Venezuelan-based Twitter account. The documents, dated Oct. 16, 2019 from the MLS Player Relations Department, read, in part: “You have been accused of a chargeable offence in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, that is detrimental to the reputation and public image of Major League Soccer. … This memorandum constitutes formal notice that you have been suspended indefinitely, subject to the outcoming of the proceedings of the chargeable offence referenced …”

Blondell’s agent, Gaetano Montalbano, declined to make a statement, while MLS and Huachipato have yet to respond to requests for comment.