An internal investigation into the claims made against 21-year-old Mason Greenwood has concluded, and the player has been asked to leave Manchester United. The striker’s October 2022 allegations of attempted rape, assault, and controlling and coercive conduct were dismissed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in February.
The CPS said that Greenwood’s conviction was “no longer a realistic prospect” due to the absence of crucial witnesses and the discovery of fresh information. Greenwood had rejected all the allegations, and Manchester United had begun their inquiry. The club has decided to part ways with Greenwood after six months and increasing social pressure.
“All those involved, including Mason, recognize the difficulties with him recommencing his career at Manchester United,” the club stated in a statement on Monday.
We’ve concluded that it’s best for him to accomplish it somewhere other than Old Trafford, and we’ll work with Mason to make that happen. Since his arrest in January 2022, with the release of violent recordings and photographs on social media, Greenwood has not participated in any team activities.
This is the disturbing video alleging that manchester united forward Mason Greenwood abused his girlfriend pic.twitter.com/b0zkkqHGEw
— SmilegistNG (@fuoyesmilegist1) January 30, 2022
Indictments were filed in October of last year. Greenwood thanked Manchester United and his family for their support in a statement issued to PA News on Monday, in which he also admitted to having made “mistakes.”
“I want to start by saying I understand that people will judge me because of what they have seen and heard on social media, and I know that people will think the worst,” Greenwood stated.
It’s like this, and like that and like this and uh🎶#Azziad Thika Fear Women #MatheWaNgara #AbabuTrackRecord #MasonGreenwood Mason Greenwood Thika University Frontend Maasai Mara The President Engineer #earthquake #Omanyala Bill Gates Peter Drury #iPhone15 Burna KMTC VS Code pic.twitter.com/r6Q2xQe9J5
— ML-gur (@nyntenyn) August 22, 2023
I was raised to understand that any kind of abuse in a relationship is unacceptable, and I did not do the acts for which I was arrested in February. I assume full responsibility for the events that led to the social media post and acknowledge that I made errors in my relationship.
The club came under intense criticism from supporters when news broke last week that Manchester United intended to reinstate Greenwood to the first squad. The chief executive officer of Manchester United, Richard Arnold, sent an open letter to fans on Monday in which he recognized the displeasure but said he could now be candid with them about the internal probe.
Manchester United chief exec Richard Arnold told senior staff two weeks ago the club were planning to bring back Mason Greenwood. He also intended to record a video explaining the decision.
Charges against Greenwood for rape and assault were dropped in February.@AdamCrafton_
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) August 16, 2023
He said the alleged victim had asked police to suspend their investigation into Greenwood in April 2022 and that “alternative explanations” for the audio tape had been presented to the club.
“While I am satisfied that Mason did not commit the acts he was charged with, Mason’s accepted that he has made mistakes which he takes responsibility for,” Arnold wrote.
He added: “The club will continue to offer its support both to the alleged victim and Mason to help them rebuild and move forward positively with their lives.”
Greenwood scored 35 goals in 129 games for Manchester United. He only played for England once but was already heralded as one of the sport’s most promising young players. Greenwood’s future football destination needs to be clarified.
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Public Relations Disaster
Female Fans Against Greenwood’s Return, a campaign organization, said last week on X (previously Twitter) that re-instating the 21-year-old forward would normalize “se*ual assault and domestic abuse.”
MUFC leadership have finally done the right thing, for the wrong reasons: to save their own necks, to avoid the PR disaster, not out of care for any of us. They have lied, backtracked and ignored us until they feared for their own reputation. https://t.co/ymN8KLeJZk
— Female Fans Against Greenwood’s Return (@FFAGR2023) August 21, 2023
Their response to Manchester United’s statement on Monday was to say that the club’s leadership had made the correct choice but for the “wrong reasons.”
“To save their own necks, to avoid the PR disaster, not out of care for any of us. They have lied, backtracked and ignored us until they feared for their own reputation,” read a statement on X.
Our statement in full. pic.twitter.com/4oBjirfAEa
— Female Fans Against Greenwood’s Return (@FFAGR2023) August 11, 2023
The Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) expressed relief that a resolution had finally been reached, despite its criticism of the club for failing to interact with supporters more extensively throughout the internal probe.
While the recent conjecture and debate has been damaging and reflected very badly on the Club, it is evident that they have ultimately taken the correct choice, according to a MUST statement released on Monday.
As the statement goes, “We are relieved that this matter can now be put behind us and will be working with the Club to ensure lessons have been learned from this very troubling episode.”
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