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| Ched Evans is a rapist – he does not deserve to waltz back to Sheffield United | Ched Evans is a rapist – he does not deserve to waltz back to Sheffield United |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| Does a footballer stop being a footballer when he’s a rapist? That’s the question being bandied around this week in relation to the former Sheffield United player Ched Evans. The 25-year-old sportsman was convicted of rape in April 2012, jailed for five years and is due to rejoin society in October. According to the official supporters’ club at Sheffield, he will be greeted with the opportunity to take up his old job on release. But a petition against his re-employment has thrown a spanner in the works, quickly going viral and gaining coverage across national media. More than 60,000 people have signed it. | |
| I thought long and hard about writing this article, not least because my expertise in football rarely extends beyond shouting an ill-advised “Go on, son!” at a pub telly during the World Cup. I’m not an avid follower of a particular football club and I couldn’t name the whole England team from memory. However, I do know about David Beckham’s pre-retirement jaunts around the world, Wayne Rooney’s position as England’s youngest goalscorer, Steven Gerrard’s captainship, Luis Suárez’s cannibalistic tendencies and Cristiano Ronaldo’s reputation as one of the best footballers of all time. | I thought long and hard about writing this article, not least because my expertise in football rarely extends beyond shouting an ill-advised “Go on, son!” at a pub telly during the World Cup. I’m not an avid follower of a particular football club and I couldn’t name the whole England team from memory. However, I do know about David Beckham’s pre-retirement jaunts around the world, Wayne Rooney’s position as England’s youngest goalscorer, Steven Gerrard’s captainship, Luis Suárez’s cannibalistic tendencies and Cristiano Ronaldo’s reputation as one of the best footballers of all time. |
| Football isn’t just a job, it’s a world. A world with its own rules, its own insane payscale, its own international reach and its own way of entwining itself so fixedly in our culture that even somebody like me, who has never made a conscious effort to learn anything about the sport, can reel off five players’ names and accompanying facts. It even has its own associated brand of sexism, which starts with the mobile operator 3 designating “WAG zones” in its stores and ends with the doubling of domestic violence reports during the World Cup. After all, nobody wants to “throw like a girl”, and a man who shows no interest in the sport runs the risk of being branded that humiliating epithet “woman”. | Football isn’t just a job, it’s a world. A world with its own rules, its own insane payscale, its own international reach and its own way of entwining itself so fixedly in our culture that even somebody like me, who has never made a conscious effort to learn anything about the sport, can reel off five players’ names and accompanying facts. It even has its own associated brand of sexism, which starts with the mobile operator 3 designating “WAG zones” in its stores and ends with the doubling of domestic violence reports during the World Cup. After all, nobody wants to “throw like a girl”, and a man who shows no interest in the sport runs the risk of being branded that humiliating epithet “woman”. |
| Evans isn’t merely returning to gainful employment when he waltzes back to take up his previous position at Sheffield United, he is regaining serious status. Like the music industry, however, the football world has become a bit too big for someone to creep back in unnoticed. When Chris Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna, stickers started appearing on his albums in HMV that said, “Warning: do not buy this album. This man beats women.” | Evans isn’t merely returning to gainful employment when he waltzes back to take up his previous position at Sheffield United, he is regaining serious status. Like the music industry, however, the football world has become a bit too big for someone to creep back in unnoticed. When Chris Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna, stickers started appearing on his albums in HMV that said, “Warning: do not buy this album. This man beats women.” |
| The message was clear: we no longer accept blind veneration in a powerful, influential sphere of someone who has shown such blatant disregard for another person. It was not a call to permanently exclude Brown from society or employment. Instead, it was recognition that if this world seamlessly assimilates perpetrators of domestic violence, then something has gone horribly wrong. | The message was clear: we no longer accept blind veneration in a powerful, influential sphere of someone who has shown such blatant disregard for another person. It was not a call to permanently exclude Brown from society or employment. Instead, it was recognition that if this world seamlessly assimilates perpetrators of domestic violence, then something has gone horribly wrong. |
| I believe in rehabilitation and second chances, and that the causes of crime are complex. I also believe in misogyny, rape culture and sexist systems that persist because thousands of people consistently turn a blind eye. An NHS poster that implied drunk victims, rather than rapists, cause rape appeared on our streets only last month. When our national health system still points the finger at rape victims, can we afford to reinstate Evans in his position of enormous privilege without a backward glance? | I believe in rehabilitation and second chances, and that the causes of crime are complex. I also believe in misogyny, rape culture and sexist systems that persist because thousands of people consistently turn a blind eye. An NHS poster that implied drunk victims, rather than rapists, cause rape appeared on our streets only last month. When our national health system still points the finger at rape victims, can we afford to reinstate Evans in his position of enormous privilege without a backward glance? |
| We’re told again and again that rape accusations ruin people’s lives but the reality looks different. In fact, it seems rape is easily swept under the carpet for rapists, while victims continue to be painted as life-ruiners for reporting the crimes against them. Now would be an excellent time for football to distance itself from this culture. As the charity Rape Crisis suggests, “If [Sheffield] choose to [reinstate Evans], which is their right, we urge them to seriously consider the impact that will have on huge numbers of their supporters and we urge them to make a very strong statement condemning sexual violence”. | We’re told again and again that rape accusations ruin people’s lives but the reality looks different. In fact, it seems rape is easily swept under the carpet for rapists, while victims continue to be painted as life-ruiners for reporting the crimes against them. Now would be an excellent time for football to distance itself from this culture. As the charity Rape Crisis suggests, “If [Sheffield] choose to [reinstate Evans], which is their right, we urge them to seriously consider the impact that will have on huge numbers of their supporters and we urge them to make a very strong statement condemning sexual violence”. |
| Being a footballer for Sheffield United, however talented one may be, is not a right. It is a prestigious and prominent position in a disproportionately celebrated field. Evans – a man who has never even acknowledged that he raped his victim – surely doesn’t deserve to return to this honour with minimal fuss. At the very least, an acknowledgement that violence against women means something to the world of football is desperately needed before putting him back on the pitch. Pretending that he never committed a crime just isn’t good enough. | Being a footballer for Sheffield United, however talented one may be, is not a right. It is a prestigious and prominent position in a disproportionately celebrated field. Evans – a man who has never even acknowledged that he raped his victim – surely doesn’t deserve to return to this honour with minimal fuss. At the very least, an acknowledgement that violence against women means something to the world of football is desperately needed before putting him back on the pitch. Pretending that he never committed a crime just isn’t good enough. |