Frenchman Benjamin Mendy, acquitted last year of charges of rape and sexual assault, won his trial on Wednesday in the United Kingdom against his former club Manchester City from which he was demanding salary arrears.
The ex-international demanded 11.5 million pounds (13 million francs) from City, who stopped paying him between his indictment and his placement in pre-trial detention, in August 2021, and the end of his contract, in June 2023.
Benjamin Mendy, who now plays in France for Lorient, in Ligue 2, will be able to receive most of his unpaid salary, an employment tribunal in Manchester has ruled. The amount will have to be calculated by Benjamin Mendy and Manchester City or determined at a later hearing if they cannot agree.
According to the judgment, the footballer is “authorized to recover part but not all of the sums claimed”.
When not on remand, Benjamin Mendy was “ready and willing” to work but was “prevented from doing so”, Judge Joanne Dunlop said.
“Under these conditions, and in the absence of any authorization in the contract for the employer to withhold wages, he was entitled to be paid,” she added.
In January 2023, a court acquitted Benjamin Mendy of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. In July of the same year, in another trial, he was cleared of a seventh count of rape as well as a charge of attempted rape.
In October, at the employment tribunal, the footballer said he had to borrow money from former teammates to meet his legal costs and pay his alimony.
“At no time did Manchester City apologize to me, nor even acknowledge that their actions cost me almost everything,” the player criticized.
Benjamin Mendy earned 500,000 pounds (563,000 francs) per month when he played for City. The club stopped paying him his salary after his indictment, arguing that the judicial review accompanying the measure as well as his suspension by the English Football Federation no longer allowed him to exercise his profession as a footballer.
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