Former Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy was paid by his teammates when the club stopped paying him. Allegations of rape and sexual assault have been made to the Employment Tribunal.
Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez have backed the France international, who is owed £11.5m in unpaid wages by the Premier League champions.
The tribunal was told that the 30-year-old's £500,000-a-month wages were withheld by the club after he was charged in 2021. The World Cup winner was later destroyed.
Mendy, who plays for French Ligue 2 club Lorient, filed a lawsuit against Manchester City claiming “unauthorized deductions” from his wages.
His contract saw him receive a £900,000 bonus for appearing in 60% of matches, a £1m bonus if City qualified for the Champions League and an annual payment of £1.2m to his picture rights company.
Court documents shared with Manchester Employment Tribunal said Mendy “ran out of money very quickly” and had to sell her Cheshire mansion to cover legal fees, bills and child support payments. “I struggled to pay my child support and I felt miserable,” the football player said in a witness statement.
Mendy said his agent, Meïssa N'diaye, paid his legal fees, while teammates provided “financial support”. “Rahim Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez gave me money to pay my legal fees and support my family,” he said in his witness statement.
The left-back described the 2021 charge as “the day my life turned upside down forever”.
The tribunal heard he enjoyed partying and was remanded in custody between August 2021 and January 2022, and between December 2022 and January 2023 he attended several parties in breach of his bail conditions. The January 2021 party at his multi-million pound home lasted until 4am, despite him having a match the following day, the tribunal was told.
Appearing via video link, Mendy told the court that he and N'diaye were guaranteed by City's then chief football operations officer, Omar Berrada, that he would receive his unpaid wages once he was cleared of the charges. The footballer sent a WhatsApp message to Berrada in November 2022, asking if he could confirm in writing that the wages would be paid, the tribunal heard. But Berrada did not respond to the message and denied making such an undertaking.
After his release, Mendi sent an email to Khaldoun al-Mubarak, the city's chief executive, but never heard back.
The club continued to pay after Mendy's first arrest in November 2020, but argued they did not have to because he was unable to fulfill his obligations as a player due to his bail conditions and suspension from the Football Association.
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Mendy's witness statement: “Manchester City, of all clubs, I would have thought would have appreciated the lack of restraint and anger that a person or company has been accused of wrongfully in light of the Premier League allegations they face.
“At no point did Manchester City apologize to me or acknowledge how their actions cost me everything. I believe it is fair and just that I be paid what I have earned for being falsely arrested for crimes I did not commit.
In January 2023, Mendy was found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, but the same jury failed to reach a verdict on another count of rape and one count of attempted rape.
This led to a retrial and Mendy was found not guilty of one count of rape and one count of attempted rape.
In April, a High Court tax debt case against Mendy was dismissed after he paid a £700,000 bill. The employment tribunal is expected to last for two days.
