Van Persie spent 2 weeks in jail after being arrested in the middle of June. It always seemed unlikely that they'd be able to put a case together against him since the woman involved admitted to consenting to sex with Robin (who she described as "nice"), but not to a foursome with his 2 mates in a Rotterdam hotel where he was staying with the Dutch national squad. But the player allegedly did himself no favours by initially denying that any sexual contact with the woman (referred to as Sandra K) took place.

Although there are suggestions that Sandra K can appeal against this decision, and although we sympathise with any distress suffered by her, as Arsenal fans we have to hope that this means that Robin can put the affair behind him now. Early in the season Arsene Wenger said that he thought it was a distraction for van Persie, but as the season went on he did seem to come out of his shell, and until his recent injury he was the only Arsenal player apart from Thierry Henry who seemed to have real eye for goal.