An employment tribunal in the United Kingdom has ruled that Premier League side Manchester City must pay former player Benjamin Mendy £11 million in wages that were withheld by the club following his suspension in the wake of a series of rape and attempted rape charges.

City immediately suspended Mendy indefinitely following his arrest in August 2021, and he never played for the club again, as his contract expired before he was cleared of all charges by a judge last year. It was highly unlikely he would have played for City again, even if his contract had not expired.

During the 22-month suspension, of which he spent about five months in custody, the player did not receive any wages from the club until he left in June 2023.

This prompted the French World Cup winner to sue City before the UK Employment Tribunal to recover his unpaid wages.

Judge Joanne Dunlop sided with the now-Lorient player, ruling that Man City must pay Mendy the majority of his wages being withheld by the club.

She ruled that Man City was only entitled to keep wages of about five months when the defender was in custody.

Judge Dunlop said: “I found that Mr Mendy was ‘ready and willing’ to work during the non-custody periods and was prevented from doing so by impediments (the FA suspension and bail conditions) which were unavoidable or involuntary on his part.”

She said the amount Mendy will receive will be calculated between the two parties or at a future hearing if they cannot agree.

Reacting to the verdict, Mendy said: “I am delighted with the decision and sincerely hope that the club will now do the honourable thing and pay the outstanding amounts, as well as the other amounts promised to me under the contract, without further delay, so I can finally put this difficult part of my life behind me.”

During the hearing, the 30-year-old said he was forced to sell his £4.8 million Cheshire mansion to cover legal fees, bills and child support payments as the club did not pay him.