By Judy Damon and Allister Arendse
Santos star Jeremy Jansen helped his club win the R1-million BP Top 8 Cup in Rustenburg on Saturday - three days after he was arrested and charged with attempted rape and repeatedly stabbing a 19-year-old woman with a screwdriver.
After his arrest on Wednesday Jansen, 25, appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court the following day and was granted R2 000 bail on condition that he does not enter Hanover Park, where the victim lives, until after the trial. He was not asked to plead.
Santos, dubbed "The People's Team", have not suspended Jansen pending the outcome of his trial.
Philippi police detective Marius Isaacs said he arrested the former Ajax Cape Town footballer at his Hanover Park home hours after the alleged incident on Sunrise Beach in Muizenberg early on Wednesday morning. He was charged immediately.
It is alleged he attempted to rape the woman, who is known to him, and then stabbed her repeatedly. She was treated at the Hanover Park hospital and is recovering at home.
Jansen is expected to appear in the Wynberg magistrate's court on October 10.
Santos owner Goolam Allie said on Tuesday night: "I will not interrogate him about it. I heard by accident that such a matter existed, and when I asked my player he told me about his bail.
"Santos will never ever condone such an act, but I am not prepared to find someone guilty before it can be proven in court. Accusations can be thrown at anybody for any reason. This issue is separate from the club and I am not prepared to get involved.
"My player has not missed a training session. I will not question him about the incident or comment on the case because it is sub judice. On behalf of Santos I hope and pray it is not true."
Asked about a precedent last year star when UK soccer players Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate were suspended from playing for their country until the outcome of assault charges, Allie declined to comment.
Bowyer, a Leeds United midfielder, was eventually found not guilty, but the club nonetheless fined him four weeks' wages - R1,3-million - for violating club rules by being drunk in public on the night of the assault.
Leeds also ordered Bowyer to undergo a community service programme for the remainder of his contract, because it had been alleged that the assault had been racially motivated.
Then Leeds manager David O'Leary said he had brought shame on the club and he was put on the transfer list when he refused to accept the sanction.
Asked about SA cricket star Makhaya Ntini's suspension while he successfully defended rape charges, Allie said: "Ntini was suspended unjustly. The charge was never proven."
People Opposing Women Abuse director Kelly Hatfield said Santos had set a bad precedent by not suspending Jansen.