An American football player has been accused of sexual assault by two flight attendants who claim he groped them on a plane to London chartered by his team.

Brandon McManus, 32, flew to the UK on September 28 with the rest of the Jacksonville Jaguars team for NFL games at Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The two women, who have not been named, filed a lawsuit against McManus on Friday in Florida. They allege that McManus and his teammates became rowdy on the flight and the journey “quickly turned into a party”.

They say that McManus, a married father of three, and several other players were uncomfortably close to the crew and broke federal aviation law, according to ESPN.

McManus — who met his wife,