Manchester United defender Harry Maguire was convicted by a Greek court and handed a 15-month suspended sentence following an incident in Mykonos six years ago. Maguire was found guilty of non-serious assault, resisting arrest, and attempted bribery in relation to the incident six years ago following a retrial in the Greek Criminal Appeal Court on the island of Syros on Wednesday. Maguire has strongly denied the allegations and his lawyers have told Greek authorities they plan to appeal the verdict at the Supreme Court in Athens.
The case was heard nearly six years after his arrest following a brawl on family holiday in Mykonos. Maguire was previously convicted in 2020 to 21 months and 10 days of suspended prison for repeated assault, attempted bribery, violence against public officials, and insult, according to other reports. Maguire appealed the previous conviction, leading to it being overturned according to Greek law, other reports indicate.
Maguire has called the case a shambles and said he plans to appeal.
After a panel of three judges found Maguire guilty by a 2-1 majority at the retrial, it emerged that he had turned down offers to pay £43,500 to settle the case out of court, even as late as a recess in Wednesday's hearing. The new trial has been postponed four times, with the latest delay due to court documents not being translated into English.
Maguire's legal team claim there are flaws in the prosecution's case and has questioned the conduct of those pressing ahead with the proceedings. Maguire's lawyers claimed that two Albanian men injected his sister Daisy with an unknown substance in a bar on a night out that caused her to faint, according to other reports. Maguire's defence team said that when the player and his group called for transport to take his sister to hospital, they were instead driven to a police station where Maguire was assaulted by plain-clothed officers, according to other reports.
Maguire has branded the trial process 'a shambles' according to sources, and vowed to appeal to the Greek Supreme Court.
The prosecutors behind Harry Maguire's conviction in Greece have called for him to be punished by the Premier League and other football bodies after he was handed a 15-month suspended sentence. Ioannis Paradissis, the lawyer for the police officers, hit out at Maguire for not apologising and called for him to face further punishment from football authorities.
Maguire did not have to attend court in person and was able to play for United in their 2-1 defeat to Newcastle at St James' Park on Wednesday night. Maguire's lawyers have made it clear he does not have a criminal record and is free to travel to the United States for this summer's World Cup.
Two men approached my little sister. They asked her where she was from and she responded. My fiancee Fern saw my little sister's eyes going to the back of her head. She was fainting. She was in and out of consciousness.
Specialist lawyers have reportedly told Sky Sports News that the fact he has been sentenced in a country other than the UK and that the sentence has been suspended will have no impact on his visa application. The FA typically manages this process for the international team, however, athletes with a criminal conviction cannot apply in the usual manner, according to multiple reports. If Maguire's conviction stands when England travel to the US in May, assuming he's picked by Tuchel, he might have to seek an exemption, multiple reports indicate.
It remains unclear what specific evidence or flaws in the prosecution's case Maguire's lawyers are citing for the appeal, or whether football authorities like the Premier League or FIFA will impose any sanctions on Maguire following the prosecutors' calls. The exact timeline and likelihood of Maguire's appeal to the Greek Supreme Court being heard and resolved is also unknown.
My initial thought was we were getting kidnapped. We got down on our knees. We put our hands in the air. They just started hitting us. They were hitting my legs, saying my career was over. No more football. 'You won't play again'.
How US immigration authorities will assess Maguire's visa application given the conflicting reports on the impact of his conviction is another open question. Details of the alleged substance injection into Maguire's sister and the subsequent police response, as claimed by his defence team, have not been fully disclosed.
At this point, I thought there's no chance. These are police, or I don't know who they are. So I tried to run away.