CHESTER, England: Manchester City player Benjamin Mendy was found not guilty Tuesday on a charge of rape of a 19-year-old woman.
The verdict was given by a jury on the direction of a judge at Chester Crown Court in northwest England.
Mendy’s co-accused, Louis Saha Matturie, was also cleared of two counts of rape and one of sexual assault against the same woman after the prosecution offered no further evidence against the defendants on those four counts.
Judge Stephen Everett warned jurors not to speculate as to why the prosecution had decided not to pursue guilty verdicts in relation to the charges concerned and to continue to “faithfully” try the defendants on the multiple charges they still face.
The rape charge dropped against Mendy related to an alleged incident at his home on July 24.
Mendy still faces seven counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault against six young women.
Prosecutors have alleged Mendy is a “predator” who “turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game.”
Matturie, Mendy’s friend, is alleged to have had the job of finding young women to have sex with Mendy.
Matturie denies six counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault relating to seven young women.
Both men say if any sex did take place with women or girls, it was consensual.
Man City player Benjamin Mendy cleared of one count of rape
https://arab.news/nj8cq
Man City player Benjamin Mendy cleared of one count of rape
- The verdict was given by a jury on the direction of a judge at Chester Crown Court
- The rape charge dropped against Mendy related to an alleged incident at his home on July 24
Africa Cup of Nations moved to every four years
- The tournament, which brings in an estimated 80 percent of CAF’s revenue, has traditionally been held every two years since its inception in 1957
RABAT: The Africa Cup of Nations will in future be held every four years instead of every two years, the Confederation of African Football said on Saturday.
The surprise decision was made at the body’s executive committee meeting in the Moroccan capital and announced at a press conference by CAF President Patrice Motsepe.
The tournament, which brings in an estimated 80 percent of CAF’s revenue, has traditionally been held every two years since its inception in 1957.
Sunday marks the start of the 35th edition, hosted in Morocco with the home team taking on Comoros.
Motsepe said the next Cup of Nations finals, scheduled for 2027 in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, will go ahead and then another tournament would be held in 2028 but after that it will be hosted every four years.
Motsepe announced the launch of an African Nations League annually from 2029 to fill the gap, following the example of Europe which holds its championship every four years.
“Historically the Nations Cup was the prime resource for us but now we will get financial resources every year,” he said.
“It is an exciting new structure which will contribute to sustainable financial independence and ensure more synchronization with the FIFA calendar.”
Holding the Cup of Nations every four years had been previously proposed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino but this had been rebuffed by CAF because of their reliance on the revenues that the tournament generates.
The timing of AFCON has long courted controversy because it has usually been hosted in the middle of the European season, forcing clubs to release their African players.
This tug of loyalty was supposed to be solved by moving the Cup of Nations to mid-year from 2019 but later tournaments in Cameroon in 2022 and Ivory Coast in 2024 were again hosted at the start of the year.
This year’s tournament in Morocco was moved back six months when FIFA introduced a new-look Club World Cup, which was hosted in the US in June and July.
