Raheem Sterling has been charged with dangerous driving and possession of nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation, after crashing his Lamborghini into barriers on the M3 in Hampshire in May. The 31-year-old, currently without a club after leaving Feyenoord, is due to appear at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court on 15 September.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said the charges follow a single-vehicle collision on the M3 southbound, near the Minley interchange, on the morning of 28 May. No other vehicles were involved and no injuries were reported. Sterling was arrested and later released on bail pending further enquiries. He has also been charged with failing to provide a specimen. Police had suspected Sterling of "driving a vehicle whilst unfit through drugs", but that suspicion was not included in the charges brought against him.
A source close to Sterling said in May that there was "no proof" of drugs in his system, adding that the player had faced "an extremely tough couple of years" and had been made to "feel worthless" and "forgotten about".
Sterling has been without a club since leaving Feyenoord at the end of last season. He had joined the Dutch side in February on a short-term deal after leaving Chelsea by mutual consent. Chelsea paid £47.5m to sign him from Manchester City in 2022, where he had won four Premier League titles, five League Cups and the FA Cup. He spent the 2024-25 season on loan at Arsenal before returning to a Chelsea side that excluded him from first-team training.