It was one of the unforgettable moments of ecstasy of the 2018 World Cup. Didier Deschamps stood in the press conference room in Moscow and tried to answer the first question after the victory over Croatia in the World Cup final, when suddenly the French national team players burst into rhythmic singing of his name and filled it with water and champagne.
The winner of the celebration, who stood on the table shirtless and focused on wetting the press before ordering the replacement of the song, was left-back Benjamin Mandy.
He came to the tournament after a serious knee injury and during that time he only got 40 minutes as a substitute, but was defined as responsible for the atmosphere in the team - "the man who is always able to lift morale".
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Benjamin Mandy is charged with two additional counts of rape
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Probably not always.
Three months behind bars challenge this assertion.
The man who arrived in Manchester City as the most valuable defensive player in history, is now sitting "lonely and depressed" (as quoted by his associates in France) as a sex offender in his cell at Altcourse Prison near Liverpool awaiting trial on January 24, while rape cases against him pile up.
The world champion may yet end up as a life prisoner.
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He has good reasons to hide.
Benjamin Mandy (Photo: GettyImages, Laurence Griffiths)
Since being acquired by Manchester City for almost € 60 million in the summer of 2017 - after an impressive season in the Monaco uniform that ended in winning the French championship and being called up to the squad - 27-year-old Mandy has experienced a huge fall that even winning the World Cup failed to soften. He did not really recover from the serious injury in his debut season, played little and had a hard time adapting to England. In the days of the Corona, the problems had already become public.
After getting entangled with the law when driving without a Lamborghini license or insurance worth half a million euros, a breach of guidelines came last October, so Mandy argued in his defense that his three guests arrived without a reservation. He increased to do on New Year's Eve. At a time of strict Corona restrictions in the UK, when five of his teammates contracted the virus and so the game against Everton was postponed, the defender chose to have a party at his home, in her honor even sent a video to a modeling agency asking him to organize "some girls to decorate the event".
After the case was reported, Mandy claimed that those present at the party were his partner, nephew and niece who lived with him at home, and explained that his girlfriend had invited another couple of friends and also a chef.
But outside the house, no less than six other girls were photographed.
The French defender insisted that none of them entered the house, although his neighbors argued otherwise and told tabloids in the UK about "a party that lasted until the wee hours of the night and a long barrage of fireworks that must have cost a fortune", when one of them added: "He is such an idiot. The guidelines. "
Pep Guardiola boiled down afterwards and Mandy apologized for the injury on behalf of the club, but it turns out it was nothing compared to what he had prepared for Manchester City.
All bail requests have been denied so far.
Benjamin Mandy is brought in a police car for the first hearing (Photo: GettyImages, Charlotte Tattersall)
On 26 August, Manchester City announced that they had suspended one of their players following a police investigation and arrest. It soon became clear that this was Mandy, who was arrested along with his friend Louis Saha Maturi (40 years old from Sierra Leone; has nothing to do with the footballer who played for Manchester United and Fulham). At first it was thought in England that he would spend the weekend in jail and be released, but when it was discovered that the suspicions against him included four counts of rape and also sexual assault, the picture changed.
The prosecutor said that Mandy was first arrested as early as November last year on suspicion of rape, as well as two months later, but was released and returned to play football. His bail conditions stipulated that he was banned from hosting parties at his home in Prestbury, Cheshire, but that same week in late August he organized a birthday party for his niece attended by 21 people and then arrested again - for violating the conditions, but also another rape case. "He hates being alone at home," his relatives tried to excuse the costly party. Therefore, three applications for bail have since been denied and he has been imprisoned for three months.
Last week, after appearing for a video hearing and his application denied for a third, Mandy revealed that two more rape counts had been added to the charges against him. There are now six rapes and one case of sexual assault, with a total of four complainants (one of them 17 years old) for incidents that all took place in his home. The next hearing will be held on December 22 and in which Mandy will be asked again whether he pleads guilty or not, when the trial begins on January 24.
Thus, the footballer, who earned 100,000 euros a week and lives in a luxurious mansion, finds himself in a cell in the guarded wing of an infamous prison in Liverpool (over 330 incidents in the past year, including 36 using improvised weapons) with a weekly prisoner salary of 8.20 euros for laundry, production, Cycle etc.
An article in The Sun explained: "When Mandy arrived, the prison staff made it clear to him that he would stay in the VP wing to keep him safe, like other sex offenders who might be attacked by other inmates due to the nature of the offenses. But because his English is not good, he is not "He understood and thought he would be transferred to the VIP wing along with other celebrities. It was a painful wake-up call for him, to see the prison from the inside and understand with whom he is imprisoned."
Professional football will no longer return to play.
Benjamin Mandy (Photo: GettyImages, Marc Atkins)
Mandy goes on to claim his innocence and his associates told French media: "We have never seen him behave inappropriately towards a woman. Do you think he could have committed such acts in the presence of his niece and other family members living at home? In England there are quite a few players arrested for false accusations."
If he chooses to deny guilt at the next hearing, Mandy could even be acquitted at trial, as long as he presents, of course, evidence to support his innocence. On the other hand, he will be subject to a heavier sentence and even risks life imprisonment assuming he is found guilty at trial, although in similar cases in the past most sentences ranged from 5 to 10 years in prison. Adam Johnson, who was a partner in the Manchester City Championship in 2012 and also played for the England national team, was sentenced to 6 years in prison for having sex with a minor, running half of his sentence and released in March 2019. Anyway, his career ended with the conviction and it seems Because that would also be Mandy's fate.
Manchester City no longer sell Mandy's shirts and in fact since the announcement of his arrest did not address him at all, and the French team also did not agree to comment.
Next year, when the world champion tries to defend her title in Qatar, her forgotten defender might hope to see her on TV in prison.
