Alanna Gillis 

Opinions Editor

amg7393@psu.edu

Manchester United’s Mason Greenwood was been arrested on suspicions of rape, assault and making threats to kill. United has stated that until the situation has been resolved, Greenwood, aged 20 years, will neither play nor train. The charges against him came from images and audio files that circulated social media on January 30. 

A Greater Manchester Police statement said: “Greater Manchester Police were made aware earlier today, of online social media images and videos posted by a woman reporting incidents of physical violence. An investigation was launched and following enquiries we can confirm a man in his 20s has since been arrested on suspicion of rape and assault. He remains in custody for questioning. Enquiries are ongoing.”

United themselves made a statement saying that they are aware of the allegations against him, and he will be suspended until the nature of the evidence is revealed. “We will not make any further comment until the facts have been established. Manchester United does not condone violence of any kind.”

The images and video are no longer available on the women’s Instagram account. 

Nike has announced that they have revoked their endorsement of Greenwood. “Mason Greenwood is no longer a Nike athlete,” twhe firm said in a statement, and have said that they are, “deeply concerned by the disturbing allegations and will continue to closely monitor the situation”. 

Nike is not the only big company to denounce and remove Greenwood from their merchandise. EA Sports game FIFA has also removed Greenwood from active squads and Ultimate Team packs, and will remove him permanently depending on the result of the investigation. 

United has removed all Greenwood merchandise from their website, with his name absent from a drop-down list of players’ names for replica shirts.

United staff have stated that they are “shocked and appalled” by the footage. Senior players at the club, David deGrea and Cristiano Ronaldo have unfollowed Greenwood on social media. 

Greenwood has been released on bail by the Greater Manchester Police and the situation is still unfolding.