The fuss about Hibernians’ non-attempt to not sign disgraced footballer (is he a footballer?) Ched Evans was a mighty boon for Muscat’s government. Any distraction is welcome in a time of gaffes and defaulted promises. As it turns out, it was the player who was offered to the Paolite team and not Hibs who went to the UK on the look out for a cheap option (he must be, given how he is not really wanted in most respectable clubs).
The issue itself – as to whether or not a convicted rapist should be given a second chance at a footballing career once he has served time (avec or sans remorse) – is definitely one that merits much debate. I tend to reason that the character of a footballer is just as important to the team as his skills and that this, on its own, would make Evans unemployable by any serious team wanting to avoid disruption and bad influence. Cynical, I know, but Evans should not be playing anything more than Sunday football with his village XI. The professional career was shot long ago.
And that is where we get the link back to Muscat. The story was, as we said, distracting. The Times obliged with a full Timestalk program on what was by then a non-news locally speaking : Hibs never asked for the player, he was simply offered to them by a common sponsor. It was welcome chit chat away from the “OK Siehbi” business for Muscat though. Or was it?
Muscat tweeted about Hibs needing to do the right thing. He clearly implied that deciding to employ a convicted felon might not always be a good move – particularly for Malta’s “image” abroad. Ah yes, image – obsessed as we are that the consequences of our actions are not measured by right or wrong but by perception. Suddenly Ched Evans came back to explode in Muscat’s face like the proverbial pie. Here was the Prime Minister who has openly embraced convicted criminal Engerer (for a lesser crime but nonetheless a heinous one) suddenly preaching from the pulpit as how to deal with convicted felons.
We could not help but be reminded that following Malliagate, the Prime Minister was quick to point out that it would be sad to completely lose the services of Manuel Mallia. There are many other examples of disgraced politicians being quietly reinstated in the fold of Taghna Lkoll after a period of “penitence”. In the “OK siehbi” world of Muscat everyone deserves a second chance, and a third and a fourth. If your face was on a billboard or if you backed the “moviment” in any way then – subject to the right conditions of “perception” – you are afforded the Taghna Lkoll equivalent of a “Get Out of Jail Free”.
Ched Evans’ mistake was not that he raped a drunk girl in a hotel room and subsequently failed to show remorse for his actions. Ched Evans’ mistake was simply that he did not appear on a Taghna Lkoll billboard when he had the chance.
