Harry Maguire has opened up on his ordeal in Mykonos, Greece, stating that he was ‘scared for his life’ and thought he ‘was being kidnapped’ after being hit on his legs and arms.
In what was his first interview since his arrest, the England international denied allegations of attempts to bribe the police, saying: ”No for sure. As soon as I saw that statement, it’s just ridiculous.”
Speaking on what transpired, he said: ”These two men approached my little sister. ‘They asked where she was from, she responded and then my fiancee saw her eyes going to the back of her head. She ran over, and she was fainting, in and out of consciousness. My initial thought, I thought we were getting kidnapped. We got down on our knees, put our hands in the air. They started hitting us, he got one of my hands in the handcuff and he was hitting my leg, saying ‘Your career’s over, no more football, you won’t play again’.”
He continues, ”At that point, I thought there’s no chance these are police, I don’t know who they are, I tried to run away, I was in that much of a panic, fear…. I was scared for my life.”
Speaking on the call for him to apologize publicly for his actions, Maguire said:
”I don’t feel like I owe an apology to anyone, an apology is when you’ve done something wrong, I regret putting the fans and club through this.”
The club is expected to have talks with him over the captaincy armband and Maguire addressed the issue, saying: ”It’s a massive privilege to play for the club, never mind to be captain. It’s not my decision to make.
”I have great faith in the Greek law, that the retrial would give us more time to prepare, gather evidence and allow witnesses into the court and the truth will come out.”
Under Greek law, the appeal renders the conviction null and there would now be a full retrial in a more senior court.
The news came out last week that Harry Maguire and three others had been arrested on the Greek island of Mykonos after an altercation in a bar and that later led to the resisting arrest by the police.
The 28-year-old spent two nights in custody before appearing in court, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges leveled against him and was subsequently released to go back to England.
Having been initially included in the England squad for next month’s international fixtures, Maguire was later dropped by manager Gareth Southgate hours after he was found guilty by the Greek court on Tuesday, but Manchester United released a statement stating their player would appeal the decision.
The Premier League side have also been hit by the news that star midfielder Paul Pogba recently tested positive for coronavirus, which ruled him out of the French squad. However, he could still be in line for a return before Manchester United kick off their Premier League campaign on September 19.
