Arsenal ban Ainsley Maitland-Niles's mother over 'assault'
Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ parent 'hit club negotiator’ before she is banned from Arsenal’s London Colney training ground
Arsenal have banned the mother of one of their most promising young players from the club after she appeared to hit Arsène Wenger’s chief negotiator, Dick Law, and allegedly threatened to drag her son off the pitch during an under-21s game. Police were called to Arsenal’s London Colney training ground last month and arrested the mother of Ainsley Maitland-Niles on suspicion of assaulting two people, although no further action was taken.
A member of the Arsenal ground staff and another man accused Jule Niles of assault, but Law was also apparently struck following a meeting about the player.
Maitland-Niles this season became the second youngest player to represent Arsenal in a Champions League game, when he replaced Aaron Ramsey against Galatasaray in December, aged 17 years 102 days.
Four days later, the midfielder made his Premier League debut in the 4-1 victory against Newcastle United and played as a substitute against Hull City in the FA Cup. Maitland-Niles has trained with Wenger’s first-team squad on several occasions and has represented England at Under-17 and Under-18 level.
Niles was arrested on suspicion of assault, but was released without charge. Arsenal told her that she could no longer enter the club’s London Colney training base.
Despite her ban, players, family members and spectators were astonished to see Niles turn up for the Arsenal Under-21 fixture against Aston Villa last Friday in which Maitland-Niles played. Witnesses claim that Niles became aggressive, shouting from the touchline and threatening to enter the pitch and drag her son out of the game.
Stewards intervened, but the police were again called and this time the mother received a warning. Arsenal lost the match 3-1.
An injury prevented Maitland-Niles being involved in the next under-21 game against West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday and the incidents involving his mother have not changed Arsenal’s positive attitude towards him. Maitland-Niles is described as being a highly rated footballer and a polite and hard-working individual. He is well liked by club staff and both the youth and senior players.
A spokesperson for Hertfordshire police said: “Police were called at 4.11pm on March 20 to the location to reports two people had allegedly been assaulted by a woman. They suffered superficial injuries. Officers attended and a 36-year-old woman from Watford was arrested on suspicion of assault.
“She has since been released with no further action to be taken against her. Police were called to the location on Friday, April 24 at 2.40pm to reports a woman was refusing to leave the premises. Officers attended and the woman was issued with a warning.”
An Arsenal spokesman said the matter was private and that the club would not be making any comment. Law’s role at Arsenal is similar to a director of football and he has helped negotiate on some of the biggest and most successful deals in the club’s recent history. Having started work for Arsenal as a scout in South America, Law helped to take Gilberto Silva and Carlos Vela to the club before formalising his present role in 2009.
Law has since negotiated with Real Madrid officials over the record £42.5 million signing of Mesut Özil and dealt with Barcelona chiefs last summer to help with the signing of Alexis Sánchez. He is helping Wenger with Arsenal’s end-of-season transfer plans.
When contacted by Telegraph Sport in an effort to put the allegations to Niles, the spokesman for Maitland-Niles refused to comment.
After making his Champions League debut this season, Maitland-Niles said: “I’m just really happy and I want to thank my family and God mostly for putting me here, and Arsenal for giving me the chance. I was a bit nervous at first, but it brought a smile to my face.”
Along with Gedion Zelalem and Stefan O’Connor, the performance of Maitland-Niles against Galatasaray drew praise from Ramsey who said: “We came here with a few players making their first-team debuts and they did great. It was really nice to see some of the 17-year-olds making their debuts and I was really pleased for them. This club is all about promoting younger players with talent.”
Gary Lineker has complained previously about parental behaviour by saying: “The competitive nature of most mums and dads is astounding,” the former England striker said. “The fear they instill in our promising but sensitive [youngsters] is utterly depressing. We need a parental cultural revolution.”
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
Fortunately she makes up for that in other ways.
, cos we lost the last one
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