“I need to present Freya and each different lady and boy which you could rise up for your self if one thing occurs to you, irrespective of who the particular person is, and justice will likely be served. To all of the victims of sexual assault, I hope my story is a reminder that irrespective of how afraid you could be, communicate up, you will have a voice, and carry on preventing for justice.
“I do know this has impacted not solely my life, my daughter’s, my household and associates tremendously. And it’s one thing I’ll always remember for the remainder of my life.”
Nikita Hand barely acquired by her assertion exterior the courtroom in Dublin that had simply dominated, in a civil trial, in favour of her declare that the MMA fighter Conor McGregor had sexually assaulted her in 2018.
It was a reminder of the limitations confronted by girls who’re victims of violence like this. The power and willpower proven by Hand will need to have been extraordinary to even report the assault within the first place, by no means thoughts pursue it up to now. Hand stated she felt “let down” by the Irish public prosecutors, who didn’t pursue a felony declare towards McGregor.
The courtroom was informed that McGregor pinned down Hand and put her in a “chokehold” as he assaulted her, that the paramedic who handled her stated that they had not seen “somebody so bruised” in a very long time, after she had been taken in an ambulance to a sexual assault remedy unit.
Hand was awarded a little bit underneath €250,000 ($257,000) in damages. McGregor denied the accusations and has stated he’ll attraction. He posted a prolonged assertion on X which he has since deleted. One other man was discovered to not have assaulted Hand.
The courtroom was additionally informed in regards to the influence on Hand’s life that the assault had. She needed to go away her job, her relationship together with her then associate ended, she needed to cease remedy classes to assist with the psychological influence as a result of she couldn’t afford them, her mortgage was now in arrears and she or he needed to transfer out of her dwelling after males broke in and stabbed her new associate. The choose dominated that the latter incident shouldn’t be thought-about by the jury as a result of there was no suggestion that McGregor himself was concerned.
That is all talked about to stress the impact of sexual assault on somebody’s life, and it virtually feels inappropriate to segue into the query of ‘what does this imply for soccer?’
However McGregor has tried to insert himself into soccer wherever he can, and he has usually been indulged.
Take the time in October when he discovered his method onto the pitch on the Emirates Stadium, there ostensibly after collaborating in a promotional occasion in London, he someway managed to get to locations within the stadium the place even your typical hospitality ticket doesn’t get you.
He posed for an image with Declan Rice and was filmed having a kick about and play-fighting with Bukayo Saka, who to his credit score didn’t look notably snug with the entire expertise.
Arsenal did ask McGregor to go away the sector of play, and later made clear that they might be reviewing their safety procedures to make sure one thing comparable didn’t occur once more sooner or later.
McGregor play-fighting on the Emirates (Instagram)
McGregor was additionally within the stands for Arsenal’s away journey to Newcastle a couple of weeks later, and appeared on UK radio station talkSPORT whereas there.
He has posed for photos with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, amongst others, and has repeatedly interacted with Sergio Ramos on-line. He was a visitor on the 2018 World Cup last in Moscow, invited by Russian president Vladimir Putin.
He has professed his assist for a number of golf equipment through the years, together with Manchester United, Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain. He has invested in his native Irish membership, Lourdes Celtic, and has courted important publicity by claiming he was contemplating shopping for quite a lot of groups, together with United, Chelsea and Liverpool.
In equity, you get the sense that many individuals within the recreation wished no a part of any affiliation with McGregor, even earlier than final week’s verdict.
He has been accused of a variety of violent offences earlier than and has convictions for assault and disorderly conduct however beforehand, legally talking, the principle accusation one might stage at McGregor is that he’s an obnoxious, generally violent oaf, and soccer has loads of these.
Now, a courtroom has upheld accusations about one of many worst crimes an individual can commit. It’s particularly insidious as a result of the sense of worry and intimidation that include any accusation of sexual assault will likely be magnified on this case: McGregor is an especially well-known, influential and rich man with a considerable amount of aggressive followers who don’t want any encouragement to defend him and try and intimidate any perceived risk to him.
So now, there isn’t a excuse. From this level, you’ll be able to’t declare to be unaware of McGregor. If it wasn’t clear earlier than that he was a noxious character that no person in soccer ought to be related to, then it’s now.
(Photograph: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile by way of Getty Photographs)
