Maguire given suspended sentence by Greek court over 2020 incident

• Defender handed 15-month suspended sentence
• Convicted over nightclub altercation in Mykonos
• Player expected to appeal decision

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has been given a 15-month suspended sentence by Greece’s Supreme Court over a nightclub incident involving police officers on the island of Mykonos in August 2020.

Court officials confirmed the ruling on Wednesday. Lawyers representing the police officers involved called on both United and the The Football Association to take action against the player.

The Press Association reported that Maguire intends to challenge the sentence. An appeal to a higher court would quash the latest judgment, as happened when he successfully appealed his original conviction in 2020.

The England international was initially handed a 21-month suspended sentence shortly after the incident. That ruling was appealed, triggering a retrial on the island of Syros, the administrative capital of the region. The appeals process was delayed multiple times, including once because of a lawyers’ strike.

Maguire, who turns 33 on Thursday, was convicted of causing minor bodily harm, insulting police officers, attempted bribery and unlawful violence against police. The sentence was suspended for three years.

According to PA, Maguire and his legal team rejected several attempts to settle the case out of court, including a financial proposal made during a recess in Wednesday’s hearing, as he remains determined to clear his name.

He did not attend the hearing and was named in the starting line-up for United’s Premier League match against Newcastle United on Wednesday evening. There are no travel restrictions in place, meaning he remains eligible for selection by the England national football team ahead of this summer’s World Cup.

Maguire has consistently denied wrongdoing. In 2020, he told the BBC: “If anything, myself, family, and friends are the victims.”

However, Ioannis Paradissis, a lawyer representing the police officers, criticised the defender’s conduct.

“He has never apologised, not even once. Not a single apology,” Paradissis told The Associated Press. “As of today, he has a criminal record.

“We hope that his club and the Football Association of England take action against him. How is it possible for someone who now has a criminal record and has been convicted of acts of violence against police officers to continue to participate in national teams and in the England team? It’s unacceptable.”

In a statement issued on behalf of the officers, Paradissis added that they had hoped for an apology as “an elementary gesture of respect” and argued that such a conviction was incompatible with the values expected of elite athletes.

Maguire previously told BBC Sport in August 2020 that he feared for his life during the incident.

“We got down on our knees, we put our hands in the air, they just started hitting us,” he said. “They were hitting my leg saying my career’s over: ‘No more football. You won’t play again.’

“And at this point I thought there is no chance these are police or I don’t know who they are, so I tried to run away, I was in that much of a panic, fear, scared for my life. All the way through it.”