Former Arsenal player sacked by club for trying to score off the field!

New Delhi: Former Arsenal and Ipswich Town striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas had a court appearance after he was charged with orchestrating an attempted importation of drugs. His appearance in court led to his current club, Scottish second tier’s Greenock Morton FC, sacking the player due to his charge. He was arrested at home in Gourock, a small town near Glasgow on Wednesday and was taken to Carlisle for further questioning.

The striker refused to enter a plea to the charge at Carlisle Magistrates court and his lawyer came out to state that the player strictly denied involvement in any plan to import drugs into the UK. All of this comes on the heels of the National Crime Agency (NCA) discovering 60 kgs of cannabis arriving from Bangkok at the Stansted Airport in London. The cannabis found at the airport is said to hold a value of £600,000.

Emmanuel-Thomas, who is a former England youth international and has played for various clubs across the United Kingdom such as Arsenal, Ipswich Town, Queens Park Rangers, Cardiff City and many more. He also had a season-long stint in India, playing for Indian Super League club Jamshedpur FC. The striker had recently joined Greenock Morton in July 2024 on a sixth-month deal and has been sacked less than two months into his contract.

Greenock Morton FC can confirm that the contract of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been terminated with immediate effect.

The club will be making no further comment on the matter. pic.twitter.com/qNxM6f6ju9

— Greenock Morton (@Morton_FC) September 19, 2024

The prosecutor of case, Diane Jackson, informed the court that following the discovery of the drugs two women aged 28 and 32 had been arrested in regards to this case. Both women claim to be travelling business class from Bangkok via Dubai and the court heard one woman claim that she is the part of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, which is how the former Arsenal player got involved in this case.

The NCA caught hold of four suitcases in total, two of which contained 29kgs of cannabis while the remaining 31kg were taken from the other two suitcases. After both these women were charged with drug importation offences, Emmanuel-Thomas was arrested shortly after that on Wednesday in a ‘joint’-move conducted by both, the NCA and the officers of Scotland Police.

For administration purposes, the district judge decided to treat the striker’s no plea as a not guilty plea. The deputy district judge, Steven Jonas ruled that the allegation was too serious to be dealt with in the magistrates’ court and Emmanuel-Thomas remained in police custody after his bail application was rejected. Following the court appearance, his club Greenock Morton said that his contract was terminated with immediate effect.

A former Arsenal striker finds himself in hot water after an appearance in court led to his current club sacking the player on the basis of the charges against him. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today