Accused of rape and attempted rape, Benjamin Mendy was acquitted by British justice on Friday. In fact, the ex-Manchester City player had already been found not guilty of six rapes and a sexual assault after a first trial last January. There were still two charges on which the jury had not reached a verdict at the end of the first trial. They made pschitt this Friday, after three hours of deliberation and three weeks of hearing, in Chester in the north of England. The 28-year-old world champion did not speak. Several of his fellow footballers have done so through social media.
Starting with the Dutch international of Atlético, Memphis Depay. “All cases dismissed. So what do we do now? Who’s going to help this brother heal? Who is going to be liable for damages to his name? How will he get his career back? Many years of investment to become a professional footballer…. Now what ? I never brought it up because I didn’t know all the details, but I spoke to him once via FaceTime when he was behind bars and I confronted him on the court a few times. I did not see the devil in this man. We cannot allow this to happen to us as athletes. Who is going to defend us in case of need and not when the damage is already done?” Asks the former Lyonnais, asking “people” to “not turn their heads” after this favorable verdict for the ex-Marseillais , without a club since the beginning of last July.
Former teammate of Benjamin Mendy in the France team, Paul Pogba was also there with his message of support: “So happy for you (my) brother… All the people who spoke badly of you, I now want to see them clear your name. I can’t wait to see (you) again on the field, ”says the Juventus Turin midfielder, who won the World Cup alongside the native of Longjumeau.
“Who the fuck is defending us, the athletes?” Memphis Depay wonders again, calling for “everyone to pray that Benjamin regains his mental health, his physical and spiritual strength!”. A call that has found an echo with many players from various backgrounds. “100% true”, judge the former Lyonnais Miralem Pjanic, in response to the message from the Dutchman. “So true my brother”, launches the British player of Manchester City Jack Grealish. Boys like Madrid’s Toni Rudiger or Marseille’s Amine Harit use their smileys to show their support for Benjamin Mendy and in this case for the words of Memphis Depay. “True”, soberly judges the Brazilian from Fulham Andreas Pereira. All this without mentioning the tens of thousands of likes from Achraf Hakimi (PSG), David Alaba (Real), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Marcus Thuram (Inter) and many more after this message on Instagram. The same is true under that of Paul Pogba, with for example the red hearts posted by Samuel Umtiti.
After playing at ASM alongside Mendy, Valère Germain, who has just signed in Australia, is also coming out of his reserve. “It may be easy to talk now and we probably should have done it before. It was also difficult for us to do so. We live in a crazy world these days. Many condemned you, in particular the media, without waiting for the decision of Justice. Today it is Justice who declared you not guilty. I hope that these same people and media will shed light on the good person that you are and the good mood that you had on a daily basis, ”he says. And to conclude: “I can’t imagine how complicated these three years must have been, but life is long and we all hope to see that smile again as soon as possible”. It might take some time…
