Dark stories are coming from Manchester. World Cup and Premier League winner Benjamin Mendy has apparently thrown his whole life and career away. Instead of playing football for one of the world’s best sides, the Manchester City player is behind bars and facing grave charges for no less than six bouts of rape.Grim reading indeed: Benjamin Mendy has been charged with two more counts of rapeFootball stars involved in criminal activity is a tricky subject to report on. So tricky that there is already a huge mistake in that previous sentence. It shouldn’t say “stars involved in criminal activity” but rather “stars accused of being involved…” You have to tread carefully. Difficult as that may seem, it gets even more complicated if you blame Ferland Mendy or Edouard Mendy for crimes they haven’t been accused of.Real Madrid defender Ferland Mendy and Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy have hit out at French and British press for using images of them in stories about Benjamin Mendy. Ferland and Edouard are understandably unhappy about it. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Edouard Mendy (@edou_mendy) Chelsea’s in-form goalkeeper has come a long way to be considered a potential candidate for Ballon d’Or, one of football’s most prestigious individual accolades. Still, these days you can see his photos attached to stories of rape. He published a story on Instagram to protest it.”It’s sad to see that in 2021, in both France and England, for some black people have neither first names nor distinct faces. These errors seem to be accidental, but on the contrary, they’re highly symbolic. It’s not complicated to differentiate two faces, especially when they’re wearing different shirts!”Saturday, 15.30: (4.50) Leicester (3.60) Chelsea (1.90)Real Madrid’s youngster Ferland Mendy shared Edouard’s message on his Twitter and added to it.”Thank you, Edouard Mendy!. We’re in 2021. Stop! It will take time, but in the end, you’ll respect us. Whether you like it or not.”Merci Edouard Mendy! Nous sommes en 2021 😔😔😔! STOP 💪🏿🛑✋🏿Ça prendra du temps mais vous allez finir par nous respecter! Que vous le vouliez ou non 😡😡😡! pic.twitter.com/sg52f2MbyB— Ferland Mendy (@ferland_mendy) November 17, 2021 It’s understandable why Ferland and Edouard must feel annoyed. But the question is whether the mistakes made are a consequence of racism. It’s a sensitive subject in any case, but for now, we just hope the journalists will be more careful and that football will be the main talking point.
