By contrast, England's World Cup-winning rugby team have been hailed here as models of gentlemanly conduct.
LONDON (Reuters) - Two premiership football stars arrested in connection with a 17-year-old girl's allegations she was gang-raped at a top London hotel will not be charged, newspapers say.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided there was insufficient evidence to charge Newcastle United defender Titus Bramble, 22, and Chelsea striker Carlton Cole, 19, currently on loan at Charlton, the Sun and Evening Standard reported on Thursday.
Two other men -- also briefly arrested last October before being released on bail -- will not be prosecuted either, they said.
The newspapers, citing anonymous legal sources, said the case collapsed because the players insisted the girl had consented to sex and that it was impossible to prove otherwise.
The case is one of the most shocking in a series of scandals to rock the prestigious Premier League, which is watched by millions around the world and has transformed dozens of young men -- often from poor backgrounds -- into wealthy celebrities.
Tales of drugs, drunkenness and debauched group sex sessions known as "roasting" have been rife.
Although the CPS is expected to be make a formal decision within days, it declined to confirm the report. "We are still reviewing the case," a CPS spokesman said.
The girl's representative, publicist Max Clifford, said his sources also indicated charges would not be pressed.
"It certainly looks to be the way it's going, even though the early information we had from the girl's father and lawyer was that police were very confident," he told Reuters.
"If this happens, the family will be devastated because they put their faith in the British justice system."
The family may now make a private prosecution, he said.
London police declined comment on the reports.
"Our original line still stands -- four people remain on bail in connection with the inquiry. We await advice from the CPS," a spokesman said.
An agent for the two players, Jonathan Barnett, told Reuters they had not heard anything from the CPS. "I don't think the CPS has made a decision," he said.
Both have played for England's national Under-21 side and earn weekly wages in the tens of thousands of pounds (dollars).
The two other men arrested in connection with the incident at the luxury Grosvenor House hotel were a party organiser and an engineer. The sex session came after the girl met the men at London's Funky Buddha club, according to newspaper reports.
The teenager's original allegation she was gang-raped by up to eight top soccer players on September 27 threatened English soccer with its worst ever scandal off the pitch.
Adding to a climate of misbehaviour surrounding the so-called Beautiful Game on the island where it originated, England's most expensive player Rio Ferdinand last month received an eight-month ban for missing a drugs test.
That followed months of torrid tales in the press of the antics of Premiership players, ranging from sexual assault to drunken abuse and speeding offences.
By contrast, England's World Cup-winning rugby team have been hailed here as models of gentlemanly conduct.
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