Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish has been charged with driving without due care and attention, and failing to stop at or report a collision.

Grealish is set to appear in court on August 25 following an alleged incident when he breached lockdown regulations on March 29.

The midfielder was pictured on social media on a Birmingham street next to a Range Rover, which had apparently collided with two parked cars.

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Grealish apologised and said he was “deeply embarrassed” after it emerged he had visited a friend’s house, breaching government rules that were imposed to try to limit the spread of coronavirus.

West Midlands Police launched an investigation and on Thursday revealed the playmaker, linked with Manchester United, has been charged.

“A Premier League footballer has been charged with driving without due care and attention, and failing to stop at or report a collision,” a police statement said. “Jack Grealish is accused of the offences in Waterside, Dickens Heath, Solihull, on Sunday March 29.

“An investigation was launched after we responded to reports of a car hitting parked vehicles and the driver fleeing on foot. The 24-year-old from Barnt Green, Worcestershire, has been postal charged to appear before Birmingham Magistrates Court on August 25.”

Grealish donated £150,000 to Birmingham Children’s Hospital and raised £55,000 for the NHS by raffling off one of his shirts after breaching lockdown regulations soon after they were imposed.

He has said he regrets breaking coronavirus lockdown protocols, but also stresses that he is “still human and we all make mistakes”.

“I knew straight away that I had to come out and apologise myself, which I wanted to do; I didn’t want to hide behind a club statement,” Grealish told The Guardian earlier this month. “I am old enough now and mature enough to know that I’d done wrong.

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“I know I am a footballer but I’m still human and we all make mistakes and straight away I knew I’d made a mistake. I’m also a role model as well to a lot of people out there, especially young children who might look up to me.

“So I try to act in a respectable manner but since then I have tried to keep my head down, work hard and do as much charitable work as possible.”

He played in Villa’s goalless draw with Sheffield United behind closed doors at Villa Park on Wednesday, the first game of the Premier League season since it was suspended in March.

Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish has been charged with driving without due care and attention, and failing to stop at or report a collision.

Grealish is set to appear in court on August 25 following an alleged incident when he breached lockdown regulations on March 29.

The midfielder was pictured on social media on a Birmingham street next to a Range Rover, which had apparently collided with two parked cars.

Article continues below

Editors’ Picks

Grealish apologised and said he was “deeply embarrassed” after it emerged he had visited a friend’s house, breaching government rules that were imposed to try to limit the spread of coronavirus.

West Midlands Police launched an investigation and on Thursday revealed the playmaker, linked with Manchester United, has been charged.

“A Premier League footballer has been charged with driving without due care and attention, and failing to stop at or report a collision,” a police statement said. “Jack Grealish is accused of the offences in Waterside, Dickens Heath, Solihull, on Sunday March 29.

“An investigation was launched after we responded to reports of a car hitting parked vehicles and the driver fleeing on foot. The 24-year-old from Barnt Green, Worcestershire, has been postal charged to appear before Birmingham Magistrates Court on August 25.”

Grealish donated £150,000 to Birmingham Children’s Hospital and raised £55,000 for the NHS by raffling off one of his shirts after breaching lockdown regulations soon after they were imposed.

He has said he regrets breaking coronavirus lockdown protocols, but also stresses that he is “still human and we all make mistakes”.

“I knew straight away that I had to come out and apologise myself, which I wanted to do; I didn’t want to hide behind a club statement,” Grealish told The Guardian earlier this month. “I am old enough now and mature enough to know that I’d done wrong.

“I know I am a footballer but I’m still human and we all make mistakes and straight away I knew I’d made a mistake. I’m also a role model as well to a lot of people out there, especially young children who might look up to me.

“So I try to act in a respectable manner but since then I have tried to keep my head down, work hard and do as much charitable work as possible.”

He played in Villa’s goalless draw with Sheffield United behind closed doors at Villa Park on Wednesday, the first game of the Premier League season since it was suspended in March.

Aston Villa footballer Jack Grealish has been charged with two driving offences over a car crash during the coronavirus lockdown.

The 24-year-old is due to appear in court accused of driving without due care and attention and failing to stop at or report a collision, West Midlands Police said.

An investigation was launched after reports of a car hitting parked vehicles and the driver fleeing on foot in Solihull on 29 March, according to the force.

Grealish issued a public apology following the incident, which happened a day after he had posted a video urging people to stay at home during the coronavirus lockdown.

The Villa captain said he had “stupidly agreed” to go to a friend’s house and was “deeply embarrassed” by his actions.

He will appear before Birmingham Magistrates Court on 25 August.

At the time of the incident, West Midlands Police said two parked cars had been left with minor damage.

Aston Villa later released a statement confirming Grealish – their star player – would be disciplined and fined, with the money going to a local charity.

“Aston Villa is deeply disappointed that one of our players ignored the government’s guidance on staying at home during the coronavirus crisis,” a club statement read.

“Club captain Jack Grealish has accepted that his decision to leave his house was wrong and entirely unnecessary. It breached the government guidelines which are clear and should be adhered to by everybody.”

Grealish played for Villa in the first Premier League match since before the lockdown on Wednesday evening – a 0-0 draw against Sheffield United.

Before the match, both sets of players and the referee “took a knee” in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Local traffic police have commented on reports that a prominent soccer player was arrested on charges of reckless driving and breaking lockdown regulations.

On Sunday, Gauteng traffic tweeted that a 32-year-old prominent player was arrested on the N1 in Johannesburg Sunday morning, after clocking a speed of 213/kmh in a 120 zone.

It has been widely reported in local media that the player in question is SuperSport United striker Thamsanqa Gabuza.

The former Orlando Pirates striker as well as his passengers, who are believed to be in the entertainment industry, were detained at the Sandton Police station where they spent the night.

Read: Official: Highlands Park Offload R1.2M Star

Gabuza along with his passengers were released on bail being charged with breaking lockdown regulations with reckless and negligent driving.

Chief provincial inspector Obed Sibasa who is the spokesperson for Gauteng Traffic Police confirmed to the Siya crew that an arrest was made.

“On behalf of the Gauteng Traffic Police Community Safety, one can confirm that our high speed unit arrested a prominent soccer player on the N1 in Sandton on Sunday May 24 at about 7am.

“The player was charged with negligent and reckless driving alternative for exceeding the prescribed speed limit. He was released on R1000 bail at Police station B,” Sibasa said

He would not confirm or deny if Gabuza was the player in question.

“In terms of the department’s communication protocols one cannot divulge anyone’s name before appearing in court and not at liberty to disclose the name of any suspect up until he/ she appears in court, but we can confirm a prominent soccer player was arrested by our high speed unit,” Sibasa added.

The player will appear for the first time in the Randburg Magistrate’s court in July 2020, Sibasa told the Siya crew.

Read: Slimkat Leads List Of 10 Oldest Players Currently In The PSL

Remembering Ted Dimitru

Premier League footballer is accused of ‘gang rape’ at lockdown party by woman who claims her drink was spiked

• Woman says she woke up naked with the footballer lying beside her in bed 
• She claims to recall nothing of the party other than having two drinks 
• Says she received an anonymous call telling her she’d been spiked
• Police, forensics and doctors have interviewed and examined the woman 

By Sebastian Murphy-bates For Mailonline

Published: 04:53 EDT, 24 May 2020 | Updated: 12:10 EDT, 24 May 2020

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Players around the world have been warned to remain vigilant of approaches from match-fixers despite coronavirus having put the sport on hold.

The last elite-level professional match took place behind closed doors on 15 March in the Pakistan Super League, before its semi-finals and final were postponed, and since then players globally have been in lockdown waiting for a resumption.

Such a lull in on-field activity might suggest a drop-off in potential fixing approaches from the criminal underworld but Alex Marshall, head of the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit in Dubai, insists this does not necessarily follow.

“Covid-19 may have put a temporary stop on the playing of international and domestic cricket around the world but the corrupters are still active,” Marshall said.

“As a result, our work with members, players, player associations and agents continues. We are seeing known corrupters use this time, when players are on social media more than ever, to connect with them and try to build a relationship that they can exploit at a later date.

“We have reached out to our members, players and their wider networks to highlight this issue and ensure they all continue to be aware of the dangers of approaches and do not let their guard down while there is no cricket being played.”

As well as players spending more time interacting with fans on social media at present, Marshall’s team are mindful the drop in income could make some of the less well-paid professionals more vulnerable.

James Pyemont, the ECB’s head of integrity, added: “There will always be someone to make something out of a crisis and view it as an opportunity. We have to be confident we can withstand that pressure and we’re confident our players will do the right thing. The time is now to show this is a robust system.”

April would typically be a quiet month for the ICC’s anti-corruption team, with no international cricket staged and the IPL – now suspended indefinitely – policed by India’s in-house anti-corruption unit since last year.

The investigative work continues, however, and a number of cases are expected to be progressed in the coming weeks. These are believed to include the three United Arab Emirates players – Mohammed Naveed, Qadeer Ahmed and Shaiman Anwar – who were charged with a combined 13 counts of breaching anti-corruption rules last October.

Marshall revealed in January that his team was looking into 50 cases of potential wrongdoing in the sport – including intelligence gathered during last year’s World Cup in the UK – and sifts through around 1,000 pieces of evidence a year.

Shakib Al Hasan is the most high-profile cricketer serving a ban under the ICC’s anti-corruption code, with the Bangladesh captain accepting three charges of failing to report approaches from Deepak Aggarwal, a suspected bookmaker, last October.

A veteran of 338 international appearances, Shakib engaged in Whatsapp conversations with Aggarwal before matches in the Bangladesh Premier League, an international tri-series and the IPL between 2017 and 2018, but denied passing on inside information.

A two-year ban, with 12 months of it suspended, was the result, meaning Shakib is free to resume his playing career on 29 October.

The absence of vaccines for the deadly pandemic COVID-19, triggered almost all countries all over the world to embrace the draconian method of locking down its borders. This is one way to flatten the curve and to starve the novel coronavirus from finding hosts and spreading the infection. But, for the love of the game, a “Pokemon Go” player was charged for ignoring the COVID-19 restriction.

Italy now has the most number of deaths caused by the COVID-19, and it is enforcing stricter guidelines to prevent the spread of infection beginning Mar. 09, 2020. Comicbook recently reported that a 31-year old “Pokemon Go” player was recently charged for violating the country’s lockdown rules. He was caught playing the augmented reality game outside of his house in Italy.

During the lockdown, residents are restricted from leaving their homes and are only allowed to do so for specific reasons like purchasing necessities. Despite the danger of contracting the novel coronavirus, authorities fined over 43,000 people caught violating the country’s rules.  Leggo, an Italian news outlet revealed that the 31-year old “Pokemon Go” player is a resident of San Fermo and was playing the augmented reality game with his daughter when he was intercepted by the authority.

Pokemon Go maker Niantic continues to make changes to improve the game and make it enjoyable for everyone Photo: AFP / INA FASSBENDER

“Pokemon Go” earned its popularity because it is the first game to allow players to go outside, travel places, and personally interact with other players in an actual real-world setting. It offers exciting features like Raid Battles that encourage players to go out and play together. But, the current COVID-19 pandemic just makes it difficult for players to do the things that they enjoy doing in the augmented reality game.

Niantic recently postponed several in-game events in “Pokemon Go” to encourage players to home quarantine or self-isolate. Moreover, the game developer made some changes to the game like making incense more affordable, so “Pokemon Go” players could lure pocket monsters to their location. Pokemon Eggs are now easier to hatch, which could now be accomplished by just making a few footsteps.

The COVID-19 pandemic has, by far, changed the way we do our day to day activities, and Italy is not an isolated case. Most countries practice total lockdown to prevent the spread of infection. “Pokemon Go” players might find it hard these days to enjoy the popular augmented reality game, but the risk of contracting the novel coronavirus far outweighs the joy of playing the game.