Manchester United star accused of assault by ex-girlfriend

Brazilian footballer Antony Santos is the latest Manchester United star to be embroiled in a legal battle with an ex-girlfriend. The forward has reportedly been questioned by the police in Brazil over accusations of assault from his former partner Gabriela Cavallin.

Cavallin, a DJ and influencer, is known to have previously been in a serious long-term relationship with the footballer. The pair dated for two years, and she had been living with him even while he was still playing for Dutch Eredivisie side Ajax, which is based in Amsterdam.

The 23-year-old beauty also moved to Manchester when Antony joined United in 2022.

Details about the alleged attacks come out

According to a police report seen by ESPN, the first incident of assault took place in July 2022 at a Sao Paulo nightclub, when Cavallin was 17 weeks pregnant with the footballer's baby. They reportedly had a falling out of undisclosed origin, and she decided to break off the relationship. Apparently, Antony did not take this too well and she claims that he dragged her out by the hair while also pulling her arm.

Once outside, Antony allegedly pushed the woman into a car. Despite the incident, Cavallin admitted that they soon reconciled and she ended up moving with Antony to England after he signed with Manchester United that same summer. It was later revealed that she suffered a miscarriage also in July, but there are no reports about a connection with the alleged assault.

However, just months later, the second attack reportedly took place. In January earlier this year, Cavallin claims that Antony beat her so badly at home that she needed to have surgery to fix a silicone breast implant that had been displaced.

Two more incidents took place after that, both also while the former couple were in England. She claims that Antony's own mother and a friend even witnessed one of the attacks.

Cavallin has since returned to Brazil, where she says she has been receiving threats from the winger. These threats have resulted in her need to request for "protective measures" from the police.

Antony makes a statement on social media

The United winger posted a statement addressed to fans and followers on Instagram, three weeks after the complaint was initially filed with Sao Paulo police. He explained that he had already been questioned by the authorities and he is choosing to address the issue in public now that he had already given his official statement.

Antony took to his Instagram stories and said: "To friends, fans, and followers, For your sake, after giving my statement at the police station where the investigation involving my name is being conducted, I would like to speak publicly for the first time since I was falsely accused of assault."

He claimed that he and his family had been suffering in silence since the accusations came to light, but he did not speak publicly so as not to interfere with the investigation.

"Even though I was born and raised in a very underprivileged community, I had never been through a situation similar to this one, in which a false accusation of assault generated a prior and unfair public judgement by some people," he added.

Antony went on to express his confidence that he will be proven innocent and that "justice will prevail" once the investigation has been concluded. He also expressed his hope that the damage to his reputation caused by the allegations will remain in the past.

"Thank you for the countless messages of support received during this very difficult time," he concluded.

A probe has been opened for possible charges of domestic violence, threats and bodily injury against the player. It is still unclear if he has formally been charged. For now, Manchester United has not commented on the situation.