—Carlos Zambrano, Miguel Trauco and Sergio Peña—has unleashed a crisis in the Alianza Lima club, one of the most popular institutions in the country, and in turn has tarnished the Peruvian team, a shirt they wore until the last Qualifiers. According to the complainant, the attack occurred in Uruguay on January 18, during the blue and white team’s preseason.
The woman returned to Buenos Aires in a state of shock and on January 21 she went to a public hospital to request assistance in a case of abuse. The establishment notified the Sexual Violence Crimes Division of the Argentine police and the complaint was processed, which is already being investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office. The players are accused of sexual abuse with carnal access in a case led by Judge Edmundo Rabbione. In addition to the medical examinations ordered by Justice, the clothing worn by the complainant that day is analyzed.
In the complaint, the woman says that she went to the Hyatt Centric hotel in Montevideo where the players were staying with a friend, invited by defender Zambrano. The sexual attack, according to her story, occurred after having consumed alcoholic beverages with them in the room and having lost sight of her friend.
Alianza Lima separated the trio of accused from the first team “indefinitely” and initiated a disciplinary procedure. He tried to frame the decision in the field of internal regulations instead of doing so based on the complaint of sexual abuse. Sports director Franco Navarro said that the trigger was the entry of women into the rally — “a place that is sacred” — and that the club would not give in to that type of behavior. The crisis broke out in the run-up to the team’s presentation: the match against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami that will be played this Saturday at the Alejandro Villanueva stadium, in the Matute neighborhood, in Lima. A show that has taken a backseat due to the scandal.
The footballers involved have rejected the accusations. Midfielder Sergio Peña published a statement in which he “flatly” denied any involvement in the criminal acts, although in an interview his lawyer acknowledged that he was in the room. “What she (the complainant) says is that she was in a state of unconsciousness, she says that they had taken, but we do not know the level of what they had taken. (Sergio) told me that none of the five people who were in the room were in a state of unconsciousness,” said lawyer Juan Peña. “If he saw that there was a sexual encounter between the people who were in the room, he assures that it was with his consent, until he (Sergio) was in the room. Unfortunately, he was in the room at a time where he should not have been,” he said.
Left back Miguel Trauco issued a similar message: he categorically rejected any accusation, stated that “confusion” and “unfair damage” had occurred and indicated that he would make himself available to the authorities. Meanwhile, the main accused, Carlos Zambrano, has denied the events, highlighting that everything is about “partial and inaccurate versions that have generated strong media exposure that has caused him profound personal and professional harm.”
Booed by the fans
Before the sexual abuse complaint, Zambrano, Trauco and Peña were not exactly in the heart of the fans. All three performed well below expectations in 2025 and, in addition, exhibited a notable lack of commitment. Once the scandal became known, around 50 barra brava stormed training sessions to rebuke the accused. But they had already left. Some of his teammates, such as the experienced forward Paolo Guerrero and the winger Luis Advíncula, came to his defense and were attacked for it.
“They never respected the shirt and believe that Alianza Lima comes to hang out and collect prizes for something that their salaries demand of them: results. Players of this type do not represent us nor do we want them in the club and those who support these three will pay what they have to pay. We invite them to join the circus of indiscipline. We are not going to give them a truce,” questioned the Southern Command, the most emblematic bar of Alianza Lima.
The Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations spoke out to emphasize that events of this nature should not be tolerated or normalized, in a context where public conversation usually questions the complainant and not the alleged aggressors. One piece of information reveals the enormous difficulties that victims encounter when reporting: around 56.5% of men in Peru justify sexual violation against women, according to the National Survey on social relations of the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations of the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) of 2024.
