Hakimi, Alves and Greenwood have been charged with sexual offences
A girl enters the police headquarters closest to her home, panic controls her, and she is terrified of an experience she claims she went through. She gives her testimony that a famous star sexually assaulted or raped her, sometimes his identity may be concealed, and at other times the Public Prosecutor’s Office intervenes and reveals his person, here The club that owns the player’s name in its records is in a dilemma. Different ideas and solutions invade the heads of its officials, starting from defending him until the full truth of the matter is revealed and knowledge of its details, or terminating his contract with immediate effect out of social responsibility or in response to pressure from the masses and willingness to answer decisively questions that the media rained on them. .
From Benjamin Mendy to Mason Greenwood, Danny Alves, and even Ashraf Hakimi, the reactions of their clubs differed, which raises question marks. The main question is, what should clubs do when one of their players is accused of sexual assault?
Manchester City made only brief statements about the case of its defender Mendy, during which he confirmed that he was aware of the developments with his removal from the team list in matches and even training, until the court declared that the 2018 World Cup winner was not guilty of six charges of rape and a charge of sexual assault, while jurors did not reach a verdict. In an accusation of rape and another related to attempted rape, and last month the rape charge was dropped against Mason Greenwood, the other pole player from Manchester United, the club announced that the player would not return to training until the completion of an internal investigation he was conducting with reports emerging that the club’s women’s team and some His teammates don’t want him back.
Hakimi’s lawyer denied all charges against him
The matter was different in the case of Brazilian Alves, as his last club, Pumas, Mexico, terminated his contract with him as soon as he was detained and charged, before the judge issued his verdict. As for Moroccan Hakimi, the management of the French capital, Paris Saint-Germain, issued a statement confirming its support for the player and its “trust in justice.” With his presence naturally with the team after his return from injury.
The Athletic website published a lengthy report previously, in which it reviewed many questions regarding this thorny issue with answers.
Should the identity of the accused player be revealed?
It is not usual for a player’s identity to be revealed even if he is accused of a serious crime. The English High Court confirmed that when a person is arrested, he has every right to remain anonymous.
“I’m all for anonymity,” criminal defense attorney Hannah Sampson tells The Athletic, “when someone’s been arrested, it doesn’t mean they’ve been convicted, they won’t be guilty of anything yet, they may never be guilty of anything. But badly.” Luckily, if their names are all over the media, even if they are later acquitted, their careers are over.So I think that’s what should happen.Because it means they can continue their careers if they are acquitted.
When and how does the club decide to suspend the player?
While the police conduct their investigations and decide whether or not to charge the player they arrested, the club has its own decision on the matter.
All the lawyers The Athletic spoke to were clear that they were unlikely to break the player’s contract at this early stage in the legal process. No crime has been legally proven, and clubs will not want to part with their valuable asset in the form of their players, especially in the absence of evidence. They may be concerned about compromising the procedures
legal, or about the legal risks they may face in the future.
What do the regulations say?
The Premier League’s rules governing the possibility of suspensions state that no action can be taken against a player “before a proper internal investigation has been undertaken by the club into the matter complained of” (which is why such investigations are so important once a club hears of the arrest of one of its players). A club can suspend a player for “up to 14 days” on full pay,
During this period, the player is prohibited from training. (In practice, if a player is the subject of a police investigation, these suspensions can continue indefinitely beyond the 14-day limit in the player’s contract.)
Mindy was acquitted of 5 counts
What other measures can clubs take?
If a player is charged but not detained or released on bail, the club will review its protection measures. There are many female employees who work in clubs and they have the right to have a safe place of work for them away from those accused of sexual crimes, which means that the player will remain liable. The club, but with its isolation or suspension of its activity and subject to precautionary measures in order to preserve the safety of other employees.
Employers have the right to suspend employees and the process for player suspensions is codified in the player contracts and is in line with Premier League standards.
The procedures of some clubs differ at that stage, for example when Bisuma was arrested in October 2021 and charged with sexual assault, he was not stopped by his club Brighton and continued to play after he was released on bail and was acquitted after moving to Tottenham, but in the case of Greenwood Manchester United’s statement was clear: he will not return to training or playing matches until further notice.
How does the seriousness of the accusation affect the decision taken by the club?
It depends in part on the nature of the charges against the player. Clubs naturally stand by their players accused of wrongdoing, for example in 2018 Hugo Lloris was banned from driving for 20 months and fined £50,000 after drink-driving on the streets of London. Tottenham imposed a secret fine on him but supported him in front of the fans and the media and allowed him to remain as club captain.
But in general the club will not want a player accused of a sexual offense around the rest of the group. The more serious the accusation, the more likely the club will take action early in the legal process.
The other factor during that stage will be – assuming the identity of the player is known – the extent of the public reaction against the club. Clubs are aware of the reaction from fans, the reactions of sponsors and social media platforms and the possibility that holding on to a player will do more harm than it is worth. They will be motivated by the fear that the situation will become more complicated than it should be.
What are the risks of clubs suspending accused players?
There are usually calls for the club to terminate a player’s contract for gross misconduct once he has been charged with a serious offence, rather than waiting until trial. But even after a player has been charged, it is legally wrong to dismiss him. After two consecutive years of employment, the employee acquires unfair dismissal rights, which means that the decision to terminate employment must be made for a specific reason, and that appropriate procedures must be followed.
If a club dismisses a player when he is accused, and is subsequently acquitted, the player will be able to file a court case against the club, saying they had no grounds to dismiss him. “These days, employers have to be very careful, because of contract law,” says Sampson, the lawyer. You cannot abandon someone because they are accused of a crime. It is quite another matter if they are convicted.
Mexican Pumas terminated Alves’ contract before the verdict was issued
The other factor here is the fact that a footballer – even one charged with a serious offence – continues to be a very valuable asset to the club. First because of what he can do on the field for the team. And secondly, because he could be sold to a different team for a large sum of money.
The Athletic indicated that a senior official in one of the clubs, who declined to be identified, admitted that the clubs’ dealings with their accused players depends largely on his value to the club and the team.