Former Manchester United soccer player George Best was released on bail on Thursday after being arrested over an allegation he assaulted a woman, police said.
Best, 59, was released "pending further inquiries", the police said in a statement. "He is due to return to a Surrey police station [southwest of London] on July 6."
Vicky Pope, 34, told the Daily Mirror newspaper that a drunken Best had punched her in the neck in front of her three young children when she tried to stop him harassing his former girlfriend Gina Devivo.
Best's agent Phil Hughes said Best "categorically" denied the alleged assault, the BBC reported.
Best, widely regarded as one of soccer's all-time greats, has been fighting alcoholism for many years since his sporting career ended and has suffered a string of broken romances.