MANCHESTER United star Antony has been accused of violent behaviour against his ex-girlfriend, a similar allegation against his club mate Mason Greenwood, which was later dropped.
The winger allegedly physically attacked his ex-girlfriend who was pregnant at the time, headbutting her and cutting her hand to the bone.
In an interview with Brazilian outlet UOL published today along with pictures and screenshots of phone messages, the accuser, Gabriela Cavallin, claimed that Antony had attacked her on different occasions between June 2022 and May 2023.
She claimed that the last time he attacked her, the Brazil forward hurled a glass at her, and she cut her finger to the bone while trying to defend herself.
Cavallin told UOL she was first attacked by Antony on June 1, 2022, while she was pregnant and on holiday in Brazil. She added that Antony put her in a car, attacked her and threatened to throw her from the moving vehicle.
“He said that if I didn’t stay with him, I wouldn’t stay with anyone. I told him that I was pregnant, that he was scaring me, making my heart race. I was shaking with fear,” Cavallin told UOL.
She added in the report that she went to hospital the next day and lost the baby after about 16 weeks of pregnancy.
The UOL report also gave details of an incident on January 15, 2023 in which Cavallin told a court that Antony had headbutted her and punched her, dislocating a breast implant.
“I don’t remember exactly who the fight was about, but it was someone I had been with years ago. He punched me in the chest and my silicone turned over,” Cavallin said.
“And then I came to Brazil for surgery. I had to change the prosthesis. He said ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you, it was accidental, it wasn’t a punch, I just pushed you, I just held you against the wall’.”
Describing the last incident on May 8, which led to her finger being cut, Cavallin said: “I knew I had to leave, but I couldn’t. I liked him a lot. I had a lot of hope. I was very attached to the beginning of our relationship, to the things he was to me in the beginning.
“On that last day [May 8 2023], it was very serious. I was really scared that I wouldn’t be able to get out of the house.
“Antony locked the door of the house and wouldn’t let me leave, and I had my finger open, all hurt. He broke my things, took my passport.
“His mother and stepfather even trapped him inside the football court; he had a football court inside his living room, surrounded by a fence.
“He was upset, trying to get out of the court in any way, throwing a football at me, throwing a cell phone at me. He said he was going to kill me, that he was going to kill himself.”
Cavallin filed a police complaint against Antony in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in June and she has also filed a complaint against the player to Greater Manchester Police, according to the report.
Antony released a statement in late June denying the accusations made against him. “After submitting my statement at the police station where investigation involving my name is being conducted, I wanted to speak for the first time since I was falsely accused of assault,” he wrote on Instagram.
“I stayed silent until the moment so that nothing could interfere with the investigation process, but during all those days my family and I suffered in silence. Despite being born and raised in a very needy community, I had never been through a situation similar to this, in which a false assault charge resulted in a preliminary and unfair public judgement on the part of some.
“After the closure of the investigation my innocence will be proven. [I am] certain that justice will prevail and the damage initially caused to my image will be in the past. Thank you to the countless messages of support at this very difficult time.”
Antony has not been detained by the police in spite of the weight of the allegations and he was involved yesterday in Manchester United’s 3-1 Premier League at Arsenal.
The 23-year-old, who joined United last year from Ajax for £85 million, has also been named in the Brazil squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Peru this week.
Antony’s case is similar to Greenwood’s, who was accused of sexual assault and attempted rape in January last year, with incriminating audio and video posted on social media.
Greenwood was arrested but the charges were dropped this February apparently as witnesses were not willing to testify.
The 21-year-old will no longer play for Manchester United, according to the club, but he is still contracted to them and has been loaned to Spanish side Getafe.
