After blasting Manchester United’s “quite awful” handling of the Mason Greenwood case, GARY NEVILLE believes independent panels should look into severe charges made against sportsmen.
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Greenwood has been on indefinite suspension from United since January 2022 because of charges involving a young woman after pictures and videos were leaked online, the club stated on Monday that he will leave by mutual consent.
The Crown Prosecution Service dropped charges of attempted rape and violence against the 21-year-old England star in February of this year, prompting United to look into the situation internally.
Neville is outraged at how his former employers have handled the problem and have asked for situations of this importance to be taken out of a club’s hands in the future, even though he believes they have finally arrived at the right conclusion.
“They’ve finally gotten there,” he stated on Sky Sports. For myself and everybody else who saw the initial proof, it was obvious right away that he wouldn’t play for Manchester United again.
“I’d say that getting there has been a very awful journey. When faced with big and challenging circumstances like this, you need strong leadership from the top, which Manchester United lacks.
“There needs to be independence on a subject like domestic abuse and violence against women. Manchester United shouldn’t be the game’s judge and jury on such a crucial matter, not only for themselves but also for the entire league.
“People talk about how Manchester United’s reputation has suffered, but the Premier League has also suffered.
Since it is obvious that Manchester United lacks the expertise and capacity to appropriately handle this situation, in my opinion, matters of this gravity and severity should be handled independently by a panel. They have performed far beyond their level of expertise and proficiency.
The club’s executive leadership was informed by chief executive Richard Arnold in early August that United intended to bring Greenwood back, according to a report from last week.
Following their internal inquiry, Arnold published a public statement to fans in response to the growing pressure the club was under as a result of that report and other material.
In a statement to Sky Sports, former England midfielder Karen Carney stated, “I empathize with anyone who has been through or has been provoked by the conversations that we’ve been having.
Personally, I find the scenario to be very unsettling. I believe that Manchester United handled this extremely, really terribly as a football club, an institution, and as a representation of what it stands for.
Jamie Carragher, a former Liverpool and England defender, continued, “You almost wonder what decision Manchester United may have made if these things hadn’t been leaked, and then you get the force of public opinion, that would be worrying. In the end, they made the right choice.
The news that Greenwood will no longer play for United was warmly received by Women’s Aid, a nonprofit organization that aims to end domestic violence against women and children.
According to a spokeswoman, many victims of domestic and sexual violence will be relieved by the news that Greenwood will be leaving Manchester United.
The way that claimed domestic abuse cases are handled at clubs has a significant impact on the public’s idea of what is acceptable and permitted in society because football is adored by so many people around the world, and players are frequently idolized by fans.
“While further actions are developed following the outcome of Manchester United’s internal inquiry, this will happen away from the main stage of Old Trafford. We have heard first-hand the impact this case and the linked documents disseminated on social media have had on abuse survivors.
It is crucial that clubs, like all employers, have an approach that is wider than the criminal justice system and that addresses the reality of the issue’s scope because many survivors never contact the police to report abuse in the first place, and the majority of domestic and sexual abuse cases do not result in a criminal conviction.
In order to make it apparent that clubs oppose sexism and misogyny, it is necessary to address the mindsets that underlie domestic and sexual violence and engage with players from an early age.
Given the prevalence of misogynistic content on social media and the fact that this problem transcends football, it is critical to acknowledge and combat detrimental beliefs.
While criticizing the club’s handling of the case, the Manchester United Supporters Trust insisted that the right choice had been made.
MUST released the following statement: “This situation has dragged on for far too long while the club conducted an investigation into the profoundly disturbing original allegations.
“Also adding fuel to the anger was the complete lack of fan consultation, not even regarding the procedure. Even if the recent conjecture and discussion have been incredibly harmful and have negatively affected the club, it is apparent that they have ultimately made the right choice.
“We are glad that this issue may now be resolved, and we will work with the club to ensure that lessons have been learned from this extremely upsetting occurrence.
