Manchester United footballer Marcos Rojo tried to cover up tryst with fitness instructor - then claimed she tried to blackmail him

Battle: Marcos Rojo's lawyers accused Sarah Watson of attempting to blackmail him
Marcos Rojo, who has a child with his partner Eugenia Kusardo, is said to have approached the blonde at a Manchester bar and the pair ended up back at the flat of a friend of the player.




Lawyers acting for a Manchester United footballer accused a woman of attempting to blackmail him after a one-night stand.

Reds defender Marcos Rojo, 25, had a tryst with fitness instructor Sarah Watson, 34, at a Christmas party for the team.

Rojo, who has a child with his long-term partner Eugenia Kusardo, 22, a lingerie model, approached the attractive blonde at a Manchester bar and the pair ended up back at the flat of a friend of the player.

As she performed a sex act on him, she claimed four other players tried to watch them. Afterwards, the Argentinian asked her to meet again and sent her naked pictures of himself.

She also sent him images. Rojo's lawyers claims Miss Watson demanded £100,000 to keep quiet about their one night of passion. That claim was thrown out at a hearinglast month, reports the Sun on Sunday. She claims it was his people who offered her the cash as hush money.



She told the MailOnline: "They’re just so powerful. They probably thought 'She’s a cheeky bitch, she’s trying it on'.

"They’re a ruthless giant. They tried to hoover it all away so no one would know, but you can’t hoover up the truth, can you?"

Miss Watson, who said she had no idea the player was in a relationship, had already been offered £17,500 for her kiss and tell story from a national newspaper. Rojo won a temporary injunction banning him from being named in the press, but Mr Justice Warby ruled that the anonymity should be lifted and ordered him to pay the woman’s estimated £25,000 legal costs.

The judge said the court was not given all the facts and there had been no evidence from the footballer that he was concerned about privacy for his sexual conduct. He felt the anonymity order had been driven by others “with strong grounds for inferring as I do that commercial motives play a considerable role".

When the Sun on Sunday contacted the club for a comment, Rojo contacted his lawyers to keep the incident under wraps.

Floored: Marcos Rojo at the World Cup Final between Germany and Argentina

The star’s counsel William Bennett claimed it would be a breach of the star’s right to privacy under the European Convention on Human Rights for him to be named.

The judge said: “Although information about sexual life will generally be a prime candidate for protection, the sexual relationship here was fleeting and involved a single act.” He said if the star is not named “there is likely to be speculation about the identity of the unnamed footballer.

"Others may unjustly be brought under suspicion. There is thus a degree of genuine public interest in ensuring that the story has an additional name attached to it.”It had been agreed the photos and video material would not be publicly disclosed.