Jose Cifuentes caught up in 'scandal' as Rangers flop’s Ecuador team-mates slammed for strip club visit

Rangers flop Jose Cifuentes has allegedly been caught up in an international scandal after Ecuador players went clubbing in New York around their weekend friendly with Italy.

The midfield misfit, who is currently on loan at Brazilian side Cruzeiro from the Light Blues, was an unused substitute for his country’s 2-0 defeat to the Azzurri in the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey on Sunday. However, footage emerged on social media of some members of the squad in an adult nightclub the night before the game – including SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD wonderkid Kendry Paez, who is due to join Chelsea after his 18th birthday in the summer of 2025 in a £17million deal from Independiente del Valle.

The Ecuador FA released a statement which named Paez as one of four players reportedly involved: Paez, Robert Arboleda, Piero Hincapie and Gonzalo Plata. They said: “Given the facts of public knowledge, the FEF expresses the following: The official delegation had free time on Friday, March 22, from 2:00pm to 8:30pm, a schedule that was fully complied with. Images of events contrary to the values and principles that we [FEF] defend as an institution have been disseminated, with which will be a reason for analysis of future call-ups”.

However, reports in South America say other players were spotted separately in another nightclub and the Rangers midfielder Cifuentes is named along with Willian Pacho, Jeremy Sarmiento and Moises Caicedo, also at Chelsea.

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