Harry Maguire on Saturday night was set to fly back to England, cutting short a holiday on the Greek island of Mykonos that ended with the Manchester United and England defender accused of attacking a police officer after a late-night brawl.
Maguire was released on Saturday morning after spending two nights in police cells, but would be tried in a Greek court on Tuesday on two charges of “serial bodily harm” and “serial insult.”
After the hearing, Maguire was asked by reporters outside the courthouse if he was still at liberty.
Photo: AP
“Right now, yes,” the 27-year-old’s lawyer said, Sky News reported.
The Manchester United captain’s case is set to be heard by a three-judge panel on the neighboring island of Syros, although he does not have to attend in person.
It is almost certain that Maguire would choose not to, and would be represented by his legal team.
Maguire denies the two counts against him.
His legal team — composed of three Greek lawyers and an Athens-based legal representative appointed by Manchester United believed to have flown into Syros on a private plane with Maguire’s father on Friday night — began a staunch defense of the soccer player.
They attributed the brawl, in part, to an attack “with a sharp object” on his sister after a day of heavy drinking and partying on the island.
“When that happened and he saw his sister in such a state, [he] became incensed,” sources were quoted as telling Mykonos Voice, a local media outlet.
What began as a scuffle inside a bar in Mykonos’ trendy Fabrika district reportedly descended rapidly into a brawl outside involving Maguire, his friends, rival fans and police who, conducting COVID-19 inspections nearby, rushed to the scene.
Maguire had been photographed and filmed throughout the day and evening, enjoying the company of his teammates Marcus Rashford and Brandon Williams, as well as the snooker player Judd Trump, and mixing with other tourists, appearing to drink alcohol on occasions.
After spending Thursday evening in cells on Mykonos, Maguire was taken to Syros by boat on Friday alongside two friends, who were also accused.
The same day, Greek police issued a statement accusing Maguire and the other men, aged 28 and 29, of “violence against officials, disobedience, bodily harm, insult and attempted bribery of an official.”
Whatever the outcome of Tuesday’s trial, the episode is likely to dent Maguire’s reputation and is particularly unsavory for Manchester United and the club’s manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, given Maguire’s profile as the captain.
When news of the incident broke early on Friday morning, it is understood to have caught Manchester United by surprise, with officials from the club struggling at first to ascertain the facts and timeline.
“Following an appearance in court we note the adjournment of the case to allow the legal team to consider the case file,” the club said in a statement. “Harry has pleaded not guilty to the charges. It would be inappropriate for the player or club to comment further while the legal process takes its course.”
Maguire’s arrest and subsequent trial is also likely to cause Gareth Southgate, the England manager, disquiet, given his principled stance on players behaving properly, with Maguire the linchpin of the national team’s defense.
Maguire, who has played for the national team 26 times, was one of the stars of England’s World Cup team, which reached the semi-finals in 2018.
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
Starting with three fights in the first nine seconds and ending with a celebration and a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, the US on Saturday delivered exactly what Matthew Tkachuk hoped for by beating Canada. “We needed to send a message,” Tkachuk said. “The message we wanted to send is ‘It’s our time.’” Tkachuk fought Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff, brother Brady tussled with Sam Bennett the next time the puck dropped, J.T. Miller dropped the gloves with Colton Parayko next and the Americans followed those fisticuffs with a 3-1 victory over their biggest rival. “That was one of the
RSS