LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Former Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy should be paid the majority of the £11.5 million in unpaid wages withheld by the club after he was charged with rape and sexual assault in 2021, a ruling by a UK judge said on Wednesday.

The ex-French international, who had earned £500,000 a month at the English Premier League Champions, took his case to an employment tribunal last month.

Mendy claimed he had been assured by a senior club official he would receive his unpaid wages once he had been cleared of the charges.

The 30-year-old defender, who now plays for French Ligue 2 club Lorient, was found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in January 2023, but the same jury could not reach a verdict on another count of rape and one count of attempted rape.

After a retrial, Mendy was found not guilty of both charges.

Employment judge Joanne Dunlop said in a ruling she had concluded that Mendy was “entitled to recover some, but not all of the sums claimed”.

Mendy spent two periods in custody, which accounted for approximately five months of the 22-month period covered by his claim.

The judge said in her ruling that while Mendy was not in custody, he had been “ready and willing” to work.

In those circumstances and in the absence of “any authorisation in the contract for the employer to withhold pay, he was entitled to be paid”, she added.

The exact amount to be paid will be calculated by Mendy and the club or by the tribunal if they are unable to reach an agreement.

The club continued paying Mendy’s salary following his first arrest in November 2020.

But they had argued they did not have to after he was charged because of his bail conditions and a Football Association suspension meant he was not able to perform his duties as a player.