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Ryan Giggs cleared over former girlfriend assault charges

Former Manchester United footballer and ex-Wales manager Ryan Giggs has been cleared of allegations he assaulted his ex-girlfriend and her sister.

It comes after charges were withdrawn by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) at a hearing at Manchester Crown Court.

Giggs, 48, has always denied assault and controlling or coercive behaviour towards Kate Greville, 38, and assaulting her sister Emma.

Judge Hilary Manley directed that he was not guilty on all three counts.

The retrial had been due to start at Manchester Crown Court on 31 July.

Jurors failed to reach verdicts following more than 20 hours of deliberations after his four-week trial in August last year.

Mr Giggs was not in court on Tuesday as the judge had agreed he did not need to attend.

‘Taken its toll’
Prosecutor Peter Wright KC told Manchester Crown Court that the CPS were not now proceeding with the case.

He said Kate Greville had “indicated an unwillingness” to give evidence in a retrial as giving evidence in the first one had “taken its toll” on her and her sister.

Mr Wright said: “This is not a decision taken lightly.

“In this case, Ms Greville and her sister Emma gave evidence over a number of days in a case when there was considerable media and public interest, and it is that particularly that’s taken its toll on them, in particular Kate Greville.”

Mr Wright said there had been “protracted” efforts to find out why she was unwilling to co-operate with a second trial but prosecuting lawyers did not think it appropriate to issue a witness summons to compel her to give evidence for a second time.

He said there was no realistic prospect of conviction on count one of coercive and controlling behaviour, and it was no longer in the public interest to proceed to prosecute on the other charges of assault on Ms Greville and her sister.

He added: “That being the case, we formally offer no evidence on counts one, two and three”.

‘Rebuild his life and career’
His defence barrister, Chris Daw KC, said: “Mr Giggs is deeply relieved that the case has finally come to an end after almost three years of fighting to clear his name.

“He now intends to rebuild his life and career as an innocent man.”

The former footballer denied “losing control” and headbutting his ex-girlfriend and assaulting Ms Greville’s sister, Emma, 26, by elbowing her in the jaw during a row at his home in Worsley, Greater Manchester on 1 November 2020.

Mr Giggs was due to go on trial for a second time facing the same charges, after the jury in the first trial was discharged.

The jury was made up of 11 people – seven women and four men – after one of the original 12 jurors had fallen ill.

During the trial, Mr Giggs admitted to being unfaithful in relationships but, when asked if he had ever physically assaulted a woman, he said “no”, adding that he had never set out to control or coerce a woman.

The trial was told of the alleged assault on 1 November 2020 at his home in Worsley, Greater Manchester, where the couple returned following a row at dinner in which she accused Mr Giggs of messaging a string of women.

Jurors heard the pair tussled over their mobile phones, leading to Emma Greville, who was looking after the couple’s dog, calling the police.

He denied the accusations and alleged Kate Greville kicked him in the head.

‘Our legal test is no longer met’
A CPS spokesperson said: “At all stages we keep cases under careful review, to ensure our legal test is met. This means there must be a realistic prospect of conviction based upon the available evidence and a prosecution is in the public interest.

“Following a recent change in circumstances in this case we have determined our legal test is no longer met.

“We have determined there is no longer sufficient evidence available to proceed in respect of the controlling or coercive behaviour charge and that it is no longer in the public interest to prosecute the remaining assault charges.

“This decision was made following detailed discussions with Greater Manchester Police and consultation with the complainants.

“It is not the function of the CPS to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for the criminal court to consider.

“We encourage any potential victims to come forward and report offences to the police and we will prosecute wherever our legal test is met.”

The Cardiff-born former player made 963 appearances for Manchester United, scoring 168 goals.

He also played 64 times for Wales, and went on to manage his national team.

He stepped away from his role in November 2020 after being arrested and resigned as manager in June 2022 while awaiting trial.

His replacement Robert Page went on to take Wales to their first World Cup in 58 years in Qatar at the end of 2022.

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My son thinks Mbappe is better than me – Ronaldo

Mbappé: Would Have Been 'Fun' To Play With Cristiano Ronaldo

Al Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed that his five-year-old son, Mateo, favors Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé over him.

Ronaldo, who netted a brace over the weekend to climb to the top of the Saudi Pro League scoring charts, admitted the surprising preference during an interview with La Sexta.

“Mateo really likes Mbappé,” Ronaldo shared. “He sometimes tells me: ‘Hey dad, Mbappé is better than you,’ and I reply by saying: ‘No, I am better than him, I have scored more goals.'”

The humorous exchange highlights the influence of Mbappé, who famously idolized Ronaldo during his youth. Despite Mateo’s playful comments, the 39-year-old football legend continues to shine on the pitch.

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Dikko Hosts Olympians, Assures On Retired Athletes Welfare

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That the labours of the nation’s past heroes will not be in vain, the National Sports Commission (NSC) will prioritize the welfare of retired athletes and olympians who had excelled in the national colours. NSC Chairman Mallam Shehu Dikko gave this assurance while hosting the Nigeria Olympians Association (NOA) led by its President Olumide Oyedeji.

In Dikko’s opinion, one way to encourage the current athletes is by ensuring that the retired ones are not disregarded.

His words, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not toying with the welfare of our athletes generally, but particularly our ex-internationals. It is his mandate and we have keyed into it. There is a budget line for the welfare of retired athletes. It may not be much but that’s a good starting point. It means that every year, something will be mapped out for the upkeep of our retired athletes. That money will be judiciously used. But we have to be specific. Not just any retired athlete, we are referring to athletes who wore these green and white colours and we can vouch for them. We want you to feel that Nigeria cares for you.”

There is also good news for athletes with unfulfilled past promises from the government.

“There is also a budget line to fulfill past promises government made to athletes. We know that there had been situations in the past when athletes excelled, they were made financial promises and even some have passed on without those promises being fulfilled. We have a catalogue of those promises and Mr. President has graciously approved a budget line for that purpose. With this development, we will be redeeming those promises gradually. Every year there should be a block funding to sort that out.”

The association’s request for an ‘entourage commission’ which would see the olympians serve as mentors to athletes at major sporting events got a glowing endorsement from the NSC helmsman.

He said, “The issue of entourage commission is one that I am committed to. In fact, we will push to make it a bill so that it becomes a law to have these retired athletes who have seen it all accompany our athletes to Games. There is a huge psychological boost the presence of these great olympians will have on the athletes having them side by side at the Games.”

Dikko eulogized the olympians for their past exploits that brought honour to the nation and promised to engage them more in the Commission’s activities.

“The major reason why the President set up the Commission is for the professionalization of the sector. Who are the core professionals? It is people like you. We will look at the involvement of the olympians in our programs. If you have the right people on the table, you get quality representation”, he added.

He drummed up the Commission’s aggressive grassroots sports development drive in a bid to strengthen the conveyor belt for talents and replace the retired athletes.

“We are doing things differently now. We have set up the three Rs, reset, refocus and relaunch. We are moving our sports from the emphasis on competitions which is consumption to development which is production. This entails that we have to be deliberate in our grassroots development of sports, the schools sports, NUGA, NIPOGA, NACEGA Games. We have struggled to replace most of you retired athletes over the years because of this neglect for the grassroots. We are changing all that now”, he said.

He promised equal attention to all sports.

“We are not a football Commission. We are here for all sports. In this this commission we are working to advance all sports and even in the last week we have held meetings with baseball, motorsports, hockey, volleyball, taekwondo, armwrestling, polo all manner of sports you can think of. We are doing sports development and sports economy here and every sport has the potentials to be a huge revenue generator for the country. We want the Federations to be serious and show proof of development of the sport with domestic tournaments. We fully keyed into what the Cricket U-19 team is doing in Malaysia because even before that tournament you could see the visible efforts of the Federation to unearth and develop talents”, he concluded.

Dikko pledged his support for the upcoming Olympians reunion tagged “the labour of our heroes past.”

Highpoint of the meeting was the induction of the NSC Chairman as an olympian, an act which according to the association, accords him the full privileges and rights of an olympian.

The NOA delegation comprised of Olumide Oyedeji (President), Lawrence Iquaibom (1st Vice-president), Chief Falilat Ogunkoya-Osheku, Emmanuel Babayaro (Secretary), Hameed Adio, Emmanuel Oshoma and Olusegun Ajose. Also present at the event was SSA to the President on Grassroots Sports Development Adeyinka Adeboye ‘Zulu’.

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Adams eager to make impact at Sevilla

Nigerian forward Jerome Adams is determined to make his mark at La Liga club Sevilla after completing his move from Ligue 1 side Montpellier.

The 25-year-old, who spent one-and-a-half seasons at Montpellier, scored three goals and provided one assist before joining Sevilla.

After signing his contract, Adams watched Sevilla’s 2-2 draw with Espanyol and expressed his excitement for the future.

“There is a lot of history at this club and I am here to be part of this history and also to try to write my own,” Adams told Sevilla’s official website.

“Both my family and I are very happy. It has been a great welcome and for me, it is a great (25th) birthday present.”