After the acquittal of French soccer professional Benjamin Mendy, 28, of allegations of rape, several colleagues declared their solidarity. His compatriot Paul Pogba from Juventus Turin, with whom he had won the world championship together in 2018, called him on Facetime after the verdict and then posted a screenshot on Instagram. He wrote: “So happy for you bro. All those people who have been badmouthing you I want to see clear your name. I can’t wait to see you back on the pitch.”
Dutch international Memphis Depay, currently at Atlético Madrid and formerly a team-mate of Mendy’s at Manchester City, tweeted: “So what do we do now? Who is going to help this brother heal? Who is responsible for the damage to his Names in charge? How will he get his career back? Invested many years to become a professional footballer… Now what!?”
He has never commented on the case because he did not know the details. He had met Mendy on the field a couple of times and couldn’t see anything bad in him. Other prominent soccer professionals such as Rio Ferdinand, Jack Grealish and Antonio Rüdiger responded to the post with clapping hands and heart emojis. There were also numerous misogynistic comments on Twitter, accusing the women who had accused Mendy of sexual violence of intentionally destroying his career.
A jury of six men and six women at Chester Crown Court in northwest England acquitted Mendy on Friday of one count of rape and one count of attempted rape. The athlete accepted the verdict in tears, according to a report by the PA news agency. The footballer had been in court in these cases for three weeks. In January, allegations of six counts of rape and one of sexual assault had already been dropped in a separate trial.
According to the indictment, the attacks are said to have taken place between October 2018 and August 2021 at parties at Mendy’s house in Mottram St. Andrew south of Manchester, and the athlete had lured several women there with the help of a friend. The law enforcement agency described the athlete in this context as a “predator”. At least one of the alleged victims was a minor; there were complaints from a total of 13 women.
In both processes there was testimony against testimony. So had Mendy according to a report by Guardians stated in the first trial that the women wanted to have sex with him. It is “normal” for him to sleep with many different women. Being a famous footballer makes it “so easy, to be honest,” for him to pick up women in nightclubs and take them home. Some of the women said they had to give up their cell phones and were therefore unable to call for help. Mendy disagreed. He only confiscated the smartphones because he was concerned about his privacy. They could have had the phones back at any time.
After his arrest in August 2021, the professional athlete was initially in custody for weeks before he was released under strict conditions. Among other things, he had to hand in his passport. If convicted, he would probably have been in prison for a long time. In both processes, the jury members considered the evidence against the soccer professional to be insufficient.
No contract since July 1st
After the acquittal, Mendy, who is of Muslim faith, said only one word: “Alhamdulillah” (Arabic for “Praise be to God”). Otherwise, he stood silently next to his attorney, Jenny Wiltshire, outside the courthouse. On his behalf, she said: “Benjamin Mendy would like to thank the members of the jury for focusing on the evidence in this trial and not on the rumors and insinuations that have accompanied this case from the beginning.” Mendy said he was “relieved” that he was “trying to stay strong,” but the allegations “inevitably had a serious impact on him.” His lawyer asked for privacy for the Frenchman “so he can start rebuilding his life”.
Mendy, whose contract with Champions League winners Manchester City expired on July 1, had denied all allegations against him. He was immediately suspended by his club after the indictment, and he played his last game as a Frenchman in August 2021. When he moved from AS Monaco to Man City in 2017, he was considered the most expensive defender to date with a transfer fee of 57.5 million euros World.