THE Premier League player facing rape allegations is expected to continue being selected by his club despite prosecutors now mulling bringing formal charges.
Metropolitan Police investigators have now passed a formal file into the claims to the Crown Prosecution Service to decide on next steps.
A total of five women have accused the unnamed top-flight player of rape, sexual assault or controlling behaviour.
Despite the allegations first emerging in July 2022 when the player was initially arrested, he has remained available for selection and featured for his club on a regular basis.
It is understood that the club is standing by its position that the player involved remains innocent until proven otherwise and therefore should not be punished by his employer.
That situation could change, however, if a formal charge is laid by the CPS – but the evolving situation lays bare the quandary clubs face when serious allegations are made against their players.
Manchester United suspended striker Mason Greenwood without pay in January 2022 after he was arrested on suspicion of attempted rape and assault.
Greenwood was formally charged nine months later before the case collapsed in February 2023 – at which point United began an in-house investigation.
Despite determining, after a lengthy probe, that Greenwood had not committed the offences alleged, the United board, led by then-chief executive Richard Arnold, decided the England striker would never play for the club again.
Greenwood was initially sent to Getafe on loan for last season before joining French giants Marseille in a deal worth up to £26million in July.
United’s approach to such a delicate issue was put in context by the outcome of the stance taken by Manchester City after left-back Benjamin Mendy was arrested and remanded in custody charged with four counts of rape and one of sexual assault, in August 2021.
The first allegations had emerged in 2020, during lockdown, but Mendy remained available for selection and played in the opening game of the following season, 11 days before his arrest.
City then suspended the defender, with his pay docked the following month.
But after Mendy was cleared following a lengthy trial in January 2023, he sued the club at an employment tribunal – claiming he had been wrongly denied wages when he was available for selection after his release from custody.
Despite being subject to strict police reporting conditions, which meant he would have to attend a local station during training sessions and was unavailable to play any night or overseas games, Mendy was eventually awarded £8.5m in withheld wages.
The current player’s club is likely to be mindful of both these examples when determining its next steps.
At the same time, the decision to keep playing him has brought criticism of the club, Premier League and FA from the alleged victims and their supporters.
