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Richard Scudamore email debacle is not worthy of excessive moral outrage Richard Scudamore email debacle is not worthy of excessive moral outrage
(35 minutes later)
How is it possible that Barack Obama has yet to be drawn on the subject of Richard Scudamore’s private emails? Thank heavens David Cameron has declared Scudamore would not have kept his job had he been in the cabinet, and I have enjoyed the regular updates from the Nigerian news agencies on this most acutely pressing of international women’s crises. But the silence of the leader of the free world on the matter feels increasingly deafening.How is it possible that Barack Obama has yet to be drawn on the subject of Richard Scudamore’s private emails? Thank heavens David Cameron has declared Scudamore would not have kept his job had he been in the cabinet, and I have enjoyed the regular updates from the Nigerian news agencies on this most acutely pressing of international women’s crises. But the silence of the leader of the free world on the matter feels increasingly deafening.
And yet, and yet … 10 days into the affair, it is increasingly hard not to be struck by the sense that many have conflated a crusade against the Premier League with a crusade against its current chief executive.And yet, and yet … 10 days into the affair, it is increasingly hard not to be struck by the sense that many have conflated a crusade against the Premier League with a crusade against its current chief executive.
As stressed last week, and at least thrice-annually for about a decade, I am very far from a fan of Scudamore. But these few private emails, though pathetic and distasteful and the work of an obvious arse, are simply not worth the volume of opprobrium that has been levelled at them. As stressed last week, and at least thrice annually for about a decade, I am very far from a fan of Scudamore. But these few private emails, though pathetic and distasteful and the work of an obvious arse, are simply not worth the volume of opprobrium that has been heaped on them.
In fact, I can’t tell you how far down my list of feminist give-a-tosses the level of twattishness his emails revealed lies. If I had to give you a ballpark, I’d say it’s non-league feminist irk. Equal pay, female genital mutilation, access to abortion, rape reporting rates, rape prosecution rates – these matters and many others feel rather more worthy of both popular and prime ministerial concern than whether the chief executive of a private company did or didn’t tell an email correspondent not to use the word gash. And anyone tempted to argue that there’s a continuum between non-gash condemnation and rape statistics should consider that technically, there’s a continuum between a whole load of issues of wildly differing magnitude. But when the line is that long it doesn’t do the right side of the argument any favours to focus so disproportionately on the comparatively minuscule stuff. In fact, I can’t tell you how far down my list of feminist give-a-tosses the level of twattishness his emails revealed lies. If I had to give you a ballpark, I’d say it is non-league feminist irk. Equal pay, female genital mutilation, access to abortion, rape reporting rates, rape prosecution rates – these matters and many others feel rather more worthy of both popular and prime ministerial concern than whether the chief executive of a private company did or didn’t tell an email correspondent not to use the word gash. And anyone tempted to argue that there’s a continuum between non-gash condemnation and rape statistics should consider that technically, there’s a continuum between a whole load of issues of wildly differing magnitude. But when the line is that long it doesn’t do the right side of the argument any favours to focus so disproportionately on the comparatively minuscule stuff.
The more moral outrage that is precariously loaded upon Scudamore’s few sad little electronic exchanges, the more inescapable becomes the sense that the man is being played, not the ball. Or, if you prefer, the playa is being hated, not the game. Significant numbers of people come across as confusing a quite understandable loathing of much of what the Premier League has stood for, with a suddenly-discovered interest in women’s rights. For those who mind seriously about the major issues facing women today, that ought to set alarm bells ringing.The more moral outrage that is precariously loaded upon Scudamore’s few sad little electronic exchanges, the more inescapable becomes the sense that the man is being played, not the ball. Or, if you prefer, the playa is being hated, not the game. Significant numbers of people come across as confusing a quite understandable loathing of much of what the Premier League has stood for, with a suddenly-discovered interest in women’s rights. For those who mind seriously about the major issues facing women today, that ought to set alarm bells ringing.
We all know there can be a difference between the things we might say in private and the things we might say in public – including, incidentally, the FA independent board member Heather Rabbatts. It emerged this week that Rabbatts had privately sent two supportive text messages to Scudamore the day the emails story broke, only to publicly suggest a couple of days later – in light of no new obvious information – that he should consider his position.We all know there can be a difference between the things we might say in private and the things we might say in public – including, incidentally, the FA independent board member Heather Rabbatts. It emerged this week that Rabbatts had privately sent two supportive text messages to Scudamore the day the emails story broke, only to publicly suggest a couple of days later – in light of no new obvious information – that he should consider his position.
The Premier League has now considered it for him, via its ludicrously tinpot governance structures (and changing those is a far more imperative and more valuable exercise than ditching him). Scudamore is going nowhere, at least not till he decides to do one to Formula One. But had the clubs got rid of him, I wonder whether many of those calling for his head really would have felt a sense of epoch-ending closure? It’s like that line from the movie Showgirls (a personal high-camp favourite, if somewhat underrated as a third-wave feminist text). Understudy Elizabeth Berkley has pushed star of the show Gina Gershon down a staircase, causing the latter to be hospitalised with a strip career-ending injury. When Elizabeth finally visits her on her sickbed, Gina is remarkably sanguine about it all, observing: “There’s always someone younger and prettier coming down the stairs after you.” The Premier League has now considered it for him, via its ludicrously tinpot governance structures (and changing those is a far more imperative and more valuable exercise than ditching him). Scudamore is going nowhere, at least not until he decides to do one to Formula One. But had the clubs got rid of him, I wonder whether many of those calling for his head really would have felt a sense of epoch-ending closure? It’s like that line from the movie Showgirls (a personal high-camp favourite, if somewhat underrated as a third-wave feminist text). Understudy Elizabeth Berkley has pushed star of the show Gina Gershon down a staircase, causing the latter to be hospitalised with a strip career-ending injury. When Elizabeth finally visits her on her sickbed, Gina is remarkably sanguine about it all, observing: “There’s always someone younger and prettier coming down the stairs after you.”
And this, I’m sorry to say, would be the case at the Premier League, where the removal of Scudamore would simply result in another Scudamore appearing in his place. (I’m not au fait with the runners and riders, but think it’s unlikely that Gloria Steinem would make the shortlist.) Oh, I don’t doubt that the new guy would have a different email policy, and I expect they might spend 10 minutes establishing some figleaf of an equalities panel. But anyone imagining that the things about the Premier League that sicken them would somehow evaporate along with the personage of Scudamore is living in a delusion. He may represent the beast – pushing Game 39, bullying those with the temerity to stand up for mere supporters, making endless references to the “product”/“new markets”/“shareholders”. But he is not the beast itself.And this, I’m sorry to say, would be the case at the Premier League, where the removal of Scudamore would simply result in another Scudamore appearing in his place. (I’m not au fait with the runners and riders, but think it’s unlikely that Gloria Steinem would make the shortlist.) Oh, I don’t doubt that the new guy would have a different email policy, and I expect they might spend 10 minutes establishing some figleaf of an equalities panel. But anyone imagining that the things about the Premier League that sicken them would somehow evaporate along with the personage of Scudamore is living in a delusion. He may represent the beast – pushing Game 39, bullying those with the temerity to stand up for mere supporters, making endless references to the “product”/“new markets”/“shareholders”. But he is not the beast itself.
Forgive the repetition of a point, but more football, in the way that the Premier League has delivered it alongside TV partners such as Sky, has not made people love football more. Many speak about it with more bitterness and cynicism than ever before, and even those who weren’t there often lament that its purest years are behind it. It has, however, made the clubs who chose and employ Scudamore a huge amount of money. He has been extremely good at the job they hired him to do.Forgive the repetition of a point, but more football, in the way that the Premier League has delivered it alongside TV partners such as Sky, has not made people love football more. Many speak about it with more bitterness and cynicism than ever before, and even those who weren’t there often lament that its purest years are behind it. It has, however, made the clubs who chose and employ Scudamore a huge amount of money. He has been extremely good at the job they hired him to do.
You may not like that job – as I say, I myself feel moved to don rubber gloves even when typing about certain aspects of it – but that is the job, and you can be sure the clubs in whose gift it is would fervently desire any successor to Scudamore to go about it in exactly the same hideously effective way.You may not like that job – as I say, I myself feel moved to don rubber gloves even when typing about certain aspects of it – but that is the job, and you can be sure the clubs in whose gift it is would fervently desire any successor to Scudamore to go about it in exactly the same hideously effective way.