Mason Greenwood sexual assault allegations and other footballers mentioned in similar cases
World football is grappling with disturbing developments concerning Manchester United young star Mason Greenwood. The 20-year-old Manchester United attacker has been on the receiving end of vicious reprimand after allegedly forcing his girlfriend Harriet Robson to have sex with him.
Even as the Greenwood debate rages, a keen look into modern football shows a string of similar accusations lingering over some of the biggest names in the game. Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema and former Brazil and AC Millan ace Robinho are some of the top footballers who have been accused of sex related offences. The Brazilian has since been sentenced to nine years imprisonment.
While Robinho’s case is certainly closed after he lost two appeals leading up to his 9-year sentence, other stars are still fighting to clear their names while in action on the pitch. Benzema has sustained red hot form this 2021/22 season having scored 17 goals and a further 7 assists in 21 La Liga appearances. His accomplishments come even as he faces a one-year suspended sentence over complicity in a sex tape blackmail incident in 2015.
The tape reportedly featured his France teammate Mathieu Valbuena and was used to solicit money from him. For these allegations, Benzema was locked out of the French National Team for over 5 years, which saw him miss the emphatic French win of the 2018 World Cup Tournament in Russia.
Arguably the greatest player to ever grace the football pitch, Cristiano Ronaldo was also caught in the cross hairs after rape allegations against him surfaced. Kathryn Mayorga accused Ronaldo of forcing himself on her, claims which the United star maintains that are false. The incident allegedly occurred in Las Vegas in 2009.
Under the United Kingdom Sexual Offences Act 2003, non-consensual penetration with sexual intent is an offence which can attract a 5-year imprisonment up to a life sentence. Mason Greenwood has already been banished from the Manchester United team as the legal proceedings against him progress.
