NYCFC investigating after former intern says Villa harassed her

After a former New York City FC intern said ex-captain David Villa harassed her during her time with the MLS team, the club announced Wednesday that it's launched an investigation.

The woman, posting under the name "Skyler B" on Twitter, wrote that Villa touched her "every day" and said her bosses reacted as if it was "great comedic material."

"The harassment I went through at NYCFC was so bad that now the idea of professional sports terrifies me," she tweeted July 17. "Staying in the field of athletics terrifies me. I'm changing my entire career because the shit they did to me ruined my dreams."

She added: "I still find it hilarious that I was constantly told I had a terrible attitude at that job like I wasn't showing up every day knowing I was gonna be groped or mocked or two-hand shoved in the back."

Earlier in July, the woman also tweeted that her bosses at NYCFC made bets on who she would sleep with.

The club said Wednesday that it's opened an investigation.

"New York City Football Club has learned of the allegations made by a former intern by seeing them on social media," the club said, via Jeff Carlisle of ESPN. "We take this matter extremely seriously and do not tolerate harassment of any kind in any areas of our organization. We immediately launched an investigation into the matter."

A team source confirmed to ESPN that the woman previously worked at NYCFC.

In a statement provided by Villa's agent, the former Barcelona and Spain player denied the accusations, calling them "entirely false."

"I repeat, these accusations are totally false," said Villa, who joined NYCFC in 2015 and spent four seasons with the club. "Harassment is a severe problem for many people. It dishonors those who suffer harassment for others to claim it as an excuse to make false accusations. As our legal team works to address these false charges, I ask the media and the public to please respect my right to the presumption of innocence in this matter."