Corinthians and Netherlands forward Memphis Depay has been handed a four-month suspended prison sentence for drink driving.
The former Manchester United No.7 didn’t attend his sentencing at the Monaco Criminal Court on Tuesday morning, or opt to send a lawyer to represent him.
The incident took place on August 6, 2024 at 5:38am when Depay was stopped in his Rolls Royce for ‘risky driving’ according to the Monaco public prosecutor’s office.
Monaco-Matin reports that he was stopped by the police at the Place d’Armes and they requested a breathalyzer test which showed he had an alcohol level of 1.01mg per liter of exhaled air, or more than 2g of alcohol per liter of blood.
Along with the four-month suspended prison sentence, Depay was handed a €9000 fine and banned from driving in Monaco for two years.
RMC Sport add that this is harsher than the usual required sentence of a one-month suspended prison sentence, €2000 fine and ban from driving in Monaco for six months.
The 30-year-old, who apologised at the time of his arrest, now has two weeks to appeal the decision.
Depay is known to be a car fanatic, and once got himself in trouble for driving to a United reserve game in a Rolls Royce.
At the time of his arrest, Depay was a free agent having mutually agreed to terminate his two-and-a-half-year contract with Atletico Madrid a year early.
Depay previously played at Barcelona where he won LaLiga, and also Lyon in France.
Before that, Manchester United signed him from his first professional club, PSV Eindhoven, for £25million in 2015.
Depay was signed by countryman Louis van Gaal but after seven goals in 45 games he featured only eight times under Jose Mourinho the following campaign and eventually left.
Despite his well-travelled playing career, Depay has been a reliable asset for the Netherlands national team, scoring an impressive 46 goals in his 98 caps, featuring in two World Cups and two European Championships.
With iconic Brazilian side Corinthians since September, Depay scored seven in 14 in his first half a season, finishing seventh in the league while making the semi-finals of the Copa do Brasil and Copa Sudamerica.