04 September 2023 , 21:17
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Brazil have confirmed Manchester United winger Antony has been removed from their squad after police investigated claims he attacked an ex-girlfriend.
Gabriela Cavallin alleges Antony, 23, headbutted and punched her in a Manchester hotel room in January, the day after the Manchester derby against rivals City. The United star issued a statement to deny the allegations and confirmed he had given his testimony to the police.
A statement from GMP read: " Greater Manchester Police is aware of the allegations made and enquiries remain ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding this report. We will not be commenting any further at this time."
The Brazilian Football Confederation announced shortly afterwards that Antony had been taken out of the squad ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Peru.
Cavallin made the allegations against the footballer in an interview with Brazilian website UOL, with the article also containing images of Whatsapp messages and her alleged injuries.
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She claims to have suffered a cut to her head, a damaged breast implant and cut fingers from the alleged incident at Manchester's Hyatt Regency hotel on January 14. She said: "I don’t remember exactly who the fight was about, but it was someone I had already hooked up with years ago.
"He punched me in the chest and my silicone turned over. And then I came to Brazil to operate. 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’."
Cavallin also claims there was a separate incident in May in which she was left 'shaking with fear' after Antony threw his phone at her and said he was going to kill her and himself.
Antony joined Manchester United from Ajax in the summer of 2022 (Getty Images)Antony claims he's been "falsely accused of assault" and that his family have "suffered in silence" due to the allegations. He insists he's "never been through a situation similar to this one" and that "justice will prevail" once the case is closed.
The United star made his Brazil debut in 2021 and has won 16 caps for his country, featuring at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He had been in line to feature in the upcoming matches but has now been replaced by Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus.
He started for United in their 3-1 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, playing 84 minutes before being replaced by Alejandro Garnacho.