Manchester United captain Harry Maguire was sentenced to 21 months and 10 days in prison on Tuesday by the court on the Greek island of Syros. Absent at the trial, the English defender was tried in flagrante delicto following a fight in a bar on the neighboring island of Mykonos.
He was found guilty of all counts, “assault on state officials”, “bodily harm”, “verbal abuse” and “attempted corruption”.
“After today’s hearing, I instructed my lawyers to immediately inform the court that I am going to appeal,” reacted the English international on Tuesday.
“I remain strong and confident about our innocence in this matter – I, my family and my friends are the victims in this matter,” the player added in a statement.
A fight with tourists, then with the police
On the night of Thursday to Friday, Harry Maguire, 27, was arrested with his brother and a friend on the tourist island of Mykonos. The three men are said to have fought with other English tourists in a bar.
When the police, alerted by residents, arrived on the scene, they were insulted and one of the three suspects attacked an officer. The police then asked the three Britons to follow them to the station, but they tried to escape, according to Petros Vassilakis, a police official in Syros, on which Mykonos is administratively dependent.
According to the official police statement, a second scuffle broke out at the local police station where the three Britons “resisted fiercely (the arrest), pushing and hitting three officers”. One of them even tried to bribe the officers to cover up the incident, according to Greek police. Harry Maguire then spent two nights in detention before being released on Saturday.
The former Leicester player, recruited by United for around 87 million euros last summer, has nevertheless been selected by coach Gareth Southgate in his list of 24 players who will face Iceland and then Denmark for the Nations League .
