At this stage, it is too early to know what is going to happen to Antony or when Manchester United might emerge from this seemingly endless churn of headline after headline, ordeal after ordeal, that has the rest of football rubbernecking in their direction.
But we know roughly what occurs next. Antony will fly back to Manchester. It is quite conceivable, given the seriousness of the allegations, that the police intend to bring him in for questioning. He may be arrested. United have already faced calls to suspend their player and the volume will go up again if they decide to keep him, an alleged woman-beater, in the team.
So, yes, nobody should be too surprised if United decide there is too much heat and that they need to remove him from the public eye.
Brazil’s football federation has already decided Antony should not be allowed to wear the team’s colours while the allegations are hanging over him. A third woman has just gone public and, though Antony denies what is being said about him, there is a whole heap of pressure on United after everything that happened in the Mason Greenwood case. Put bluntly, they cannot mess this one up.
(Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
The lesson of recent history shows that might happen, though, and that the football…
