LONDON (AFP) - Former England football striker Stan Collymore has alleged he was racially abused and beaten up by players from the Bath rugby side.
Collymore, the ex-Liverpool and Aston Villa star who won three England caps, made a complaint to Irish police following the alleged attack in Dublin city centre, the Daily Mirror reported.
The 33-year-old, who has retired from football, was pictured by the newspaper with a badly bruised face, and said he also suffered a broken nose following an attack outside a burger bar in the early hours of Sunday.
Collymore was in Ireland to appear on a television show, while Bath had played against Leinster in a European Cup tie.
He claimed that the incident began inside a nightclub when the girlfriend of a Bath player insulted him, after which a member of the rugby side stepped in and called him a "kaffir", an insulting South African term for black people.
Collymore said the dispute began again later outside a burger bar, and ended up with a group of the rugby players attacking him.
"They kicked me all over the street. I went to the ground at one point, but I managed to get up again. There were five or six of them, all just bashing me," he told the paper.
Dublin police confirmed that Collymore had made a complaint about an alleged assault and that he would have to return to Ireland to make a full written statement.
Collymore was considered one of the most naturally talented English strikers of his generation, but his career faltered and was then cut short after he fell out with a series of managers and fellow players.
After scoring 49 goals in two seasons for Nottingham Forest, in 1995 he became Britain's most expensive player, signing for Liverpool for 8.5 million pounds.
However he failed to prosper at Anfield, moving successively to Aston Villa, Leicester, Bradford and Spanish side Real Oviedo before retiring.
Collymore was hampered by depression during his career, and has over the years also been involved in a series of court cases and altercations.
11/01/2004 - 11:37 GMT - AFP