I have to believe Vinicius' accusations because I reckon players are more affected by the contempt of their peers than to risk coming out like this on false pretences.
That said I'm not sure it helps to sanction Prestianni without the forensics. It would set a troublesome precedent that too obviously invites abuse. Prestianni's Argentine heritage reminded me the Argentina FA should have been harshly sanctioned for that Copa America bus chant from a couple of years ago. That incident was recorded and indicted several famous players directly. Can anyone remember if there were any consequences?
JazzG I have never said Partey is innocent or guilty but I am being made out as being some kind of rape apologist because I won't jump on a bandwagon.
It's desperately unfair, isn't it? Let's take a look at how this judgement of you may have formed.
First let's look at the question of values: what are the stakes for truth and justice in Partey's case?
You've often mentioned the legal presumption of innocence in Partey's case and then gone on to make an analogy with someone acquitted of rape or sexual assault charges such as Mendy. Enquiry into the state of justice for victims of rape and sexual assault in the UK immediately brings to light only a tiny minority of these offences reach a matching guilty verdict.
Every person who faces a rape charge in a UK court benefits from the presumption of innocence. Based on the data we have, the end-to-end legal outcome is very usually far from the truth. The presumption of innocence is a procedural technicality unrelated to real innocence.
Second the practical questions.
If you hypothesise it might have been too difficult for Arsenal to stand Partey down or terminate him, how can you so often call for material consequences for politicians, public figures, officials and so on based on inferences that are no less uncertain? I simply don't think it would've been too difficult. Most organisations stand down high profile staff affected by plausible rape allegations.
Here's what I think:
- We won't know Partey is innocent if a court acquits him because the legal outcome is not the truth.
- Arsenal could have stood Partey down or terminated his contract based on the accusations against him and it would've been unremarkable.
- Partey is probably guilty of sexual assault and I don't see the problem with him losing his job over that, bearing in mind he still would go through the courts and be eligible for damages (as Mendy has been) if acquitted.
- It's a problem Partey's case hasn't been decided in court and I reckon Arsenal has delayed it for years.
- Separately: I reckon Trump is guilty of many offences of which he's been accused, I reckon Mendy fails the most basic character tests, I reckon Prince Andrew is a nonce and Roman Polanski is a child rapist … on a basic level I reckon a lot of sex offenders go free and unpunished because that's what more or less every scrap of research tells us.
If that's the bandwagon and I'm on it, when are you getting on board?
