Mendy takes City to court: he was suspended after the rape charges of which he was acquitted. Now he asks for 14 million

The parties during the pandemic, the 7 rape accusations, the debts: the stellar career of Benjamin Mendy has ended, but perhaps the golden life of a footballer will have extra time. If he gets back wages from his former club, as he requests, il Manchester Citywhich suspended him and stopped paying him after the indictment.

The accusations, the arrest, the acquittal

Arrested in August 2021 for rape, he was acquitted two years later. Six women, between 2018 and August 2021 in the midst of the pandemic when the player organized parties despite the Covid restrictions, accused Mendy of sexual violence. For the Frenchman they have always been relationships without violence and coercion. During one hearing he went so far as to claim that “it’s honestly easy to have sex” for a rich and famous player. The women who attended the parties in his villa “where there were also many of my companions – said Mendy – but only I was humiliated” by leaving the phones in a box “but only for privacy, not to prevent them from ask for help.”

In January 2023, Mendy was found not guilty of six counts of rape. In a second trial he was acquitted of two further charges the following July.

Money on loan from City teammates

During the two-year suspension – from 2021 until the two acquittals – the player did not receive his salary and told the court he had borrowed money from his former teammates – Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Mahrez – to cover legal costs and pay child support. And now he wants 11.5 million pounds (just under 14 million euros) from City: “I believe it is right that I be paid the salary I would have earned if I had not been unjustly arrested for crimes I did not commit.”

City’s explanation

City – who made a different choice to the one Padova made with Liguori – claims to have suspended the player because the arrest and subsequent judicial review with the suspension by the English Football Association no longer allowed him to be a footballer. The Manchester Employment Tribunal will take two days to consider your complaint.