MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP)—Mexico’s national soccer team captain Edson Alvarez denied allegations that he was involved in a kidnapping two years ago after an entertainment magazine printed accusations against him.

Businessman and television producer Juan Ordonez told TV Notas that he had been kidnapped in November 2024, accusing Alvarez’s then father-in-law of orchestrating the abduction.

He also claimed that the West Ham midfielder was aware of the operation.

“I categorically reject any allegation or attempt to link my name to events, conflicts, or behaviours that are entirely unrelated to me,” Alvarez wrote on social media Thursday.

Ordonez alleged that the kidnapping took place after he demanded that the footballer pay for a documentary about his career that had been filmed years earlier.

He said the film’s financing was being negotiated through Alvarez’s father-in-law at the time, Jonathan Toache.

The project fell through after the 2022 World Cup.

The producer also had real estate dealings with Toache, and claimed that disputes arising from these transactions also motivated his abduction.

Alvarez’s social media post said it was not the footballer’s place “to confirm, deny, or comment on what is said about third parties.”

The footballer played for Mexico in the 2018, 2022 and 2026 World Cups.