Sofyan Amrabat’s brother releases statement following Man United FA Cup claim

Sofyan Amrabat’s brother, Nordin, has released a statement following a claim he made on Dutch TV about Manchester United midfielder Casemiro.

When Manchester United‘s line-up for the FA Cup final was released, there was confusion surrounding whether Casemiro was in the squad or not. He had arrived at Wembley Stadium and was named on the bench of the official team sheet handed to the press, but he was not listed when the club announced the XI on social media.

It was then quickly confirmed that Casemiro, who was originally expected to start, had suffered an injury just before the squad was released and had been replaced on the bench by Willy Kambwala.

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Sofyan Amrabat was then presented in the XI and went on to have a fantastic performance, helping United defeat Manchester City 2-1 and lift the FA Cup trophy.

However, on the Dutch television channel Ziggo Sport on Monday evening, Amrabat’s brother seemingly claimed that Casemiro was, in fact, not injured and that he refused to be part of the squad for the final.

“Casemiro was not injured in the FA Cup final,” Nordin is quoted as saying. “He found out that he wouldn’t start, so he thought to himself, ‘Okay, I will sit in the stands then’. He was fit to play.”

However, Nordin then released a statement following the show in which he claimed his words had been taken out of context and that he knew nothing of the reported incident.

“Today during an interview on television it was suggested that my brother only played in the cup final due to an injury to another player,” Nordin stated on X.

“My response to this was pure speculation and my only motivation was to defend my brother who was on the field due to his own merit and hard work.

“My words have been taken out of context, there was no ill intention whatsoever and to suggest another player chose not to play is wrong. I don’t know what happened on the day, so let’s move on from this non story.”

However, it must be considered that this is not the first time this story has been reported. Brazilian papers last week claimed the same story had happened – that Ten Hag had left him out of the starting XI and Casemiro responded by refusing to play.