Manchester United defender Harry Maguire says he "feared for his life" when plain clothes officers arrested him in Mykonos, Greece, last week and believes he does not own anyone an apology following the incident that led to his arrest. The player expressed this in an interview with the BBC on Thursday.
The defender was found guilty of aggravated assault, attempts of bribery and resisting arrest while on vacation in Greece, according to Sky Sports. Maguire was allegedly involved in a brawl on the island of Mykonos where two men had approached his sister and injected her with an unknown substance, Sky Sports previously reported. Maguire was arrested last week.
But on Wednesday, Maguire's legal time lodged a complaint against the verdict, which, in the Greek legal system, means that the player's conviction is nullified and the case moves to a more senior court for a retrial. He broke down during the interview when discussing how it felt to hear the initial "guilty" verdict.
Among the things the prosecution alleged was that Maguire arrived at a Greek police station to contest the initial charges and said: "Do you know who I am? I am the captain of Manchester United, I am very rich, I can give you money, I can pay you, please let us go."
Maguire denied this claim in the BBC interview.
"As soon as I saw that statement, it's just ridiculous," he said. "It's a massive privilege to play for the club let alone be the captain. It's not my decision to make. I have the great faith that the retrial will give us more time to prepare, gather the evidence, allow witnesses in to the court, and I'm really confident the truth will be told and come out."
Maguire allegedly had pushed an offer while he was being handcuffed after he went after the men, resulting in a back and leg injury to the officer. Maguire was released from police custody last Thursday.
The defender told the BBC that his arrest consisted of plain clothes officers, who did not identify themselves, pulling over his group's minibus, throwing him out of the vehicle, hitting his legs repeatedly and telling him his career was over. At the time, he believed he was being kidnapped, so he ran away from the men with a handcuff on one hand as a result.
England manager Gareth Southgate announced that Maguire has been removed from the roster for the team's UEFA Nations League matches against Iceland and Denmark in September. Here's his statement, via the FA:
"In light of this evening's developments, I can confirm I have withdrawn Harry Maguire from the England squad for the matches against Iceland and Denmark."
"As I said earlier today, I reserved the right to review the situation. Having spoken to Manchester United and the player, I have made this decision in the best interests of all parties and with consideration of the impact on our preparations for next week."
Maguire, meanwhile, insisted on his innocence in the interview.
"I don't feel I owe an apology to anybody," he said. "An apology is something when you have done something wrong. I don't wish it on anybody. Obviously the situation has made it difficult for one of the biggest clubs in the world, so I regret putting the fans and the club through this, but I did nothing wrong."
CBS Sports will have more as this story develops.
