TOXIC MASCULINITY

Manchester United deny Antony ‘cover-up’ after ex-girlfriend makes club doctor allegation

James Ducker
Thu, September 7, 2023

Antony strenuously denies the allegations and has been dropped from the Brazil national squad - Reuters/Phil Noble

Manchester United have strenuously denied explosive claims that the club tried to cover up allegations that their £85 million winger Antony attacked a former girlfriend.

Gabriella Cavallin, a DJ and influencer, has made the claims in relation to an alleged attack on her by Antony at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Manchester on January 15, the day after United beat Manchester City 2-1 at Old Trafford.

In a legal request by Cavallin’s lawyer Daniel Bialski to Sao Paulo Civic Police, it is claimed United tried to “hush up” the alleged attack by using a club employee to arrange for a private doctor to treat the woman instead of Cavallin going to hospital where she may have been questioned about the alleged incident.

The request filed by Cavallin’s legal team has alleged that Antony, “in one of his violent bouts of jealousy”, headbutted the woman, causing a cut on her head, and that the alleged attack led to one of her breast implants being damaged for which she later required surgery.

United have emphatically refuted claims of a “cover up”. In a statement, the club said: “Any suggestion that the club covered up these allegations is categorically false.”

Police are investigating allegations that Cavallin was subjected to a number of attacks by Antony between June last year and May this year. Greater Manchester Police are looking into the alleged incident at the Hyatt and accusations of an attack by Antony on Cavallin at a house on May 8, the day after the Brazil winger played for United in a 1-0 defeat away by West Ham in London.

Antony, 23, released a statement on Instagram on Monday in which he said his relationship with Cavallin had been “tumultuous, with verbal offences from both sides”.

But the Brazilian vehemently denied “any physical aggression” and said he trusted “the ongoing police investigations will reveal the truth about my innocence”.
‘No club medical staff were involved in treating her’

United have confirmed that a member of staff arranged for a private doctor to visit Cavallin at Antony’s request but say no club medical staff were involved in treating her. United also insisted that neither the club nor member of staff had any indication of the medical issue being related to any form of violence.

The club added that it is commonplace for their welfare department to arrange for doctors to see partners and family members of players.

Antony was dropped from the Brazil squad on Monday night for their forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Peru.

United resisted calls from domestic abuse charities to suspend Antony on Wednesday but announced in a statement on Wednesday that they were treating the matter “seriously”, with “consideration of the impact of these allegations and subsequent reporting will have on survivors of abuse”.

United were severely criticised for their handling of the Mason Greenwood case. The club said they had listened to the criticism and learned lessons from that as they now deal with the situation around Antony, including seeking external expert advice from Women’s Aid and the Professional Footballers’ Association.
‘United had been advised to proceed cautiously’

Sources said the club had been advised to proceed cautiously on the basis that police enquiries are taking place in both Brazil and the UK and innocence unless proven guilty remains an important principle in both jurisdictions.

Greenwood was suspended by United after being arrested in January last year following the publication on social media of images and audio clips.

After charges of attempted rape, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and controlling and coercive behaviour against Greenwood were dropped by the Crown Prosection Service in February after key witnesses withdrew and new material came to light, United launched an internal investigation.

Following their inquiries, United said they were satisfied that Greenwood “did not commit the offences in respect of which he was originally charged”, despite admitting they had “limited powers of investigation”. United had also been unable to interview the alleged victim. Greenwood denied all charges against him.

United had been preparing to reintegrate Greenwood into their squad only for the news to leak and spark a fierce public and internal backlash.

It led United to announce on Aug 21 that Greenwood would leave the club and on Friday the striker joined Spanish club Getafe on a season long loan.