Benjamin Mendy, the 30-year-old World Cup-winning footballer, is currently involved in an employment tribunal against Manchester City after the club withheld his £500,000 per month salary following charges made against him in 2021. Despite being cleared of those charges, Mendy claims that City’s actions nearly cost him everything.
Now playing for French Ligue 2 side Lorient, Mendy is seeking compensation for “unauthorised deductions” from his wages during his time at Manchester City. His contract had included substantial bonuses, such as £900,000 for playing in 60% of matches, £1 million if City qualified for the Champions League, and an annual £1.2 million payment to his image rights company.
According to court documents, Mendy “quickly ran out of money” due to the withheld wages, forcing him to sell his Cheshire mansion to cover legal fees, bills, and child support. In a witness statement, Mendy said, “I struggled to pay my child support, I felt awful.” He also revealed that his agent and teammates, including Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, and Riyad Mahrez, offered financial support during this time.
Mendy described his arrest in 2021 as the day “my life was turned upside down forever.” The tribunal was told that he was held in custody on two occasions and that he had breached bail conditions by hosting and attending parties, including one that continued until 4 a.m. before a match.
Mendy’s attempt to clarify his pay situation with City went unanswered. He claimed to have sent a WhatsApp message to Omar Berrada, City’s chief operating officer, in November 2022 seeking confirmation of payment, but received no response. He also reached out to Manchester City’s CEO, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, following his acquittal but again received no reply.
The club, however, maintains that they were not obligated to continue paying Mendy due to his bail conditions and a Football Association suspension that rendered him unable to fulfill his duties as a player. Mendy argued that Manchester City, given their own legal challenges, should understand the impact of false allegations, stating, “At no point have Manchester City apologised to me or even acknowledged how their actions almost cost me everything.”
Mendy was acquitted of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in January 2023. A retrial on additional charges resulted in him being found not guilty of one charge of rape and one charge of attempted rape.
The employment tribunal is expected to last for two days.
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