I very much agree with what you say but I was very surprised at how much the statement made by United went down the innoncence route, as, maybe less surprisingly, did Greenwood's. A statement from United stating that the circumstances simply made it impossible for the player to remain with the club, mistakes were made etc and with both agreeing that a fresh start away from the media spotlight was what was needed would seem to suffice. There was, however, several mentions of evidence that the public had not seen that proved innocence etc. Now, that may be part of the agreement for Greenwod to go quietly, a very specifically worded statement to make a move to another club more likely but if there was evidence that would exonerate me in the eyes of the public and the criminal justice system, I would want it out there asap.
I don’t disagree. However, the evidence in question may not exonerate Greenwood at all - it may simply have meant that there no longer remained a realistic prospect of a conviction. There is a subtle, but nevertheless significant, difference.
This is an absolute mess, far more so than any of us will ever know. It’s certainly not as simple as releasing details of what may or may not be evidence into the public domain simply to make everyone’s life easier. There are very complex rules relating to evidence, many of which may even make that an impossibility.

