Jack Grealish and Paul Pogba send support to Benjamin Mendy after ex-Man City defender is cleared of rape
Jack Grealish, Paul Pogba and Rio Ferdinand are among the football stars to have sent their support to Benjamin Mendy after the former Man City defender was cleared of rape.
Ex-Premier League ace Memphis Depay backed the 28-year-old and questioned, ‘Who is f****** defending us athletes?’, in a message to Man City and the France national team.
On Friday, Mendy was cleared of raping a young woman and trying to rape another, with the Frenchman now acquitted of all charges of sexual assault.
It comes almost two years after he was initially arrested over multiple accusations of rape at his home in England.
In January, Mendy was cleared of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in a first trial which lasted six months.
Friday’s verdict came in a second trial, which took three weeks, with Mendy breaking down in tears as the not-guilty verdicts were delivered by the jury at Chester Crown Court.
The World Cup winner had faced a lengthy jail sentence if convicted, but has now been cleared, and during a statement outside the courtroom his lawyer says he now asks for ‘privacy so he can begin rebuilding his life’.
Mendy was released by Man City at the end of the 2022/23 season at the end of his contract, having not played for the Premier League champions since being suspended by the club following his arrest in August 2021.
It means the defender is now a free agent and a free man, and former Manchester United midfielder Pogba was one of the first to send a message on social media to his international teammate.
Having seemingly video called the defender after the verdict, Pogba wrote on Instagram: “Al Hamdullilah [which means ‘praise be to God’ in Arabic].
A post shared by Paul Labile Pogba (@paulpogba)
“So happy for you bro. All
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