Soccer-FC Thun players questioned over alleged sex with minor
(corrects team's place, number of teams in top division in final para)
By Mark Ledsom
BERNE, Switzerland, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Police have detained and questioned 12 current and former players of Swiss top division side FC Thun over allegations they had sex with an under-age girl.
Canton Berne police confirmed they had questioned the men on Tuesday along with nine others and carried out house searches.
The police statement said the men were believed to have had multiple contact with the then 15-year-old girl since the start of this year.
The girl has since turned 16, the age of consent in Switzerland.
The police added that "in the large majority of cases" there was no evidence of the girl being forced to have sex against her will.
The club carried the police statement on their Web site (
www.fcthun.ch) and said they were unable to provide any further details.
"The presumption of innocence applies to all of the footballers however," FC Thun president Kurt Weder was quoted as saying by the Web site.
"If the allegations are proved, the actions will be severely punished."
The club have not indicated how many of the players, if any, are members of the first team.
A spokesman for the Swiss league said there was no indication as to whether the investigation would affect the team's ability to play its fixtures.
FC Thun stunned European football in 2005 by qualifying for the Champions League group stage with a budget of just over 5 million Swiss francs ($4.45 million) but are languishing in ninth place in Switzerland's 10-team top division. (Editing by Alison Wildey)
