Harry Maguire: Manchester United captain to keep armband as he awaits retrial
Maguire's appeal for retrial accepted but case may not come back to Greek court for several months
Thursday 27 August 2020 06:55, UK
Manchester United intend to stick with Harry Maguire as club captain for the upcoming season.
Maguire was handed a 21-month suspended prison sentence on Tuesday after being found guilty by a Greek court of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and repeated attempts of bribery.
The 27-year-old was convicted of all the charges against him by a court on the island of Syros. He was arrested with his brother and a friend after a fight broke out while he was on holiday in Mykonos over claims his sister was injected with a suspected "rape drug".
However, on Wednesday, United confirmed in a statement that Maguire's legal team had had an appeal accepted, adding: "This means that Harry has no criminal record and is once again presumed innocent until proven guilty."
It is understood no date has yet been set for the appeal and United are aware it could be a number of months before the case is heard again.
Sky Sports News understands Maguire has left Greece and is expected to return to Manchester in the coming days.
Following the court's original verdict, the defender was withdrawn from Gareth Southgate's England squad, having been initially included for next month's Nations League matches.
Analysis: 'England decision gives United time'
Sky Sports News reporter James Cooper...
"With England's decision, it reflects dialogue between Gareth Southgate, Harry Maguire and Manchester United and it was taken as the right reason to take him out of the firing line.
"It gives him and Manchester United plenty of time to work out what they want to do in terms of the captaincy.
"There is no suggestion that Harry Maguire will have the captaincy taken from him. What's been abundantly clear is Manchester United are backing their man.
"Manchester United have been as supportive as any club could possibly be in these circumstances."
'Court appeal process could take time'
With Maguire's team having appealed Tuesday's verdict, James Cooper analyses the timeline for the potential legal proceedings...
"For those people thinking it might be imminent, I don't think it will be.
"This will take some time to happen, but there's optimism in the Manchester United camp and in the Harry Maguire legal team given the right sort of appeal and preparation.
"They feel they were rushed through the whole court proceedings after being given the evidence the night before the trial started.
"Their feeling is they have strong enough evidence for this whole thing to be overturned in time.
"It's a question of how long that will all take. It will certainly take a big degree of time."
