Last night, Channel Nine reported that members of the ethical standards department raided the Brighton criminal investigation unit at the station, where they discovered that a large amount of evidence from the case against Milne was missing, including master tapes of interviews.

A report from Detective Senior Sergeant David Hickey, one of the lead investigators probing whether the St Kilda forward had raped a woman at teammate Leigh Montagna's home in 2004, was found to be missing. The brief of evidence in the case was also found to be incomplete. Police diaries were seized during the raid.

The allegation of rape against Milne - which he has always strongly denied - was dropped due to a lack of evidence.

It is believed that all the information gathered in yesterday's raid will be handed to the Office of Police Integrity for a separate investigation, which was launched on Tuesday.

On Monday night, a former policeman involved with the case told Channel Nine that he was pressured not to pursue evidence against the footballer and to ''make it go away''.

Former detective senior constable Scott Gladman's allegations were supported the following night by an ex-colleague, former detective senior constable Mike Smith, who also said police officers had pressured him to ease off on the investigation.

It has been alleged that there was mistrust between officers involved in the case with Mr Gladman claiming that files went missing and were then returned.

He also claimed that witness statements had been leaked to the football club, an allegation that the club has denied.

Mr Gladman said his colleagues told him the woman was a ''footy slut'' and that he would be ''looked after'' if the case disappeared.

A St Kilda Football Club spokesperson did not return The Age's phone calls last night.

On Tuesday, Chief Commissioner Simon Overland responded to the revelations, saying the case against Milne would be reopened if police officers had deliberately compromised the investigation.

Yesterday, The Age reported that one-time sexual assault counsellor Loreen Visser said there was no cover-up by St Kilda in the case and only consensual sex had taken place.

Ms Visser, who was employed at the club as a psychological performance coach, was called to an early morning meeting by the club's chiefs in 2004, and said she was convinced the players were innocent, based on what they said, as well as text messages.