Benjamin Mendy has been found not guilty of rape following a two-week trial at Chester Crown Court.
The former Man City and France footballer was accused of raping one woman in October of 2020 and of attempting to rape a second woman in 2018. He has been cleared of both charges against him.
The World Cup winner wept in the dock as he was unanimously acquitted. After becoming emotional as the verdicts were announced, he was released from the dock.
Mendy, 28, pleaded not guilty to both charges, and after jurors were sent out to deliberate their verdicts at 10:45am on Friday (July 14), they came back with the verdict around 3pm the same day.
The case was a retrial after Mendy was cleared of other sexual allegations in January of this year.
Mendy said that any sexual contact between himself and the two women was consensual.
In his football career, Mendy came through the youth academy at Le Havre before joining Marseille and then Monaco, with whom he won Ligue 1.
The defender joined City in the summer of 2017 from Monaco for a fee of around £52million, making 75 appearances and winning three Premier League titles.
He left the club at the end of June following the expiration of his contract, having been suspended by the club since August of 2021.
Mendy made 10 appearances for France between 2017 and 2019, winning the World Cup in Russia under the guidance of Didier Deschamps.