Manchester City will have to pay salary arrears to their former player Benjamin Mendy, acquitted of rape charges

The international footballer won his case against his former club Manchester City who had not paid him between his indictment and his remand in custody, and the end of his contract.

French footballer Benjamin Mendy, acquitted last year of charges of rape and sexual assault, won his trial on Wednesday October 6 in the United Kingdom against his former club Manchester City from which he was demanding back pay. The ex-international demanded 11.5 million pounds (13.8 million euros) 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.

According to the judgment, the footballer, who now plays for Lorient in Ligue 2, is “authorized to recover part but not all of the sums claimed”. The amount will have to be calculated by Benjamin Mendy and Manchester City or determined at a later hearing if they cannot agree.

Benjamin Mendy earned £500,000 a 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.

When he was not in pre-trial detention, Benjamin Mendy was “ready and willing” to work but was “prevented from doing so“, said Judge Joanne Dunlop. “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.