Soccer’s world of grey wrongly gives second chances to the likes of Ched Evans, Malky Mackay and Dave Whelan

Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere was fortunate to escape any punishment in a recent Premiership game when he thrust his head into the chest of Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini. It was violent conduct and deserving of a straight red card. Mike Dean, the referee in charge, took no action. It was a mistake.

In the Sky Sports studios this week, former Manchester United captain Gary Neville engaged in a preposterous conversation with ex-official Howard Webb about headbutts and how some merit a red card and others don’t (somewhat ironically, news emerged Thursday that Brazilian striker Brandao had been dealt a one-month jail sentence along with a $25,000 fine for headbutting Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Thiago Motta in a French league game). Soccer had once again embraced the greyness when all around it was black and white.

It’s been a common theme in recent weeks. Ched Evans was released from prison last month after serving half of a five-year sentence for raping a 19-year-old woman in 2011. The Professional Footballers’ Association requested his former club Sheffield United to allow him use their facilities for rehabilitation purposes, which they did. Quite inevitably, there was a backlash. Club patrons resigned in protest. Sponsors threatened to end their relationships with the organization if they re-signed the striker.

Yet, United seemed taken aback by all the fuss. In an official statement, they condemned rape and violence against women. They referred to rape as a “heinous crime’’. But when they supported a convicted rapist and allowed him into their training facilities, their words were rendered meaningless. The club’s co-chairman Jim Phipps was angry. He was upset at what he claimed was the “mob-like behaviour’’ of so many. He professed that footballers shouldn’t be treated any differently. It was a skewed perspective. If Phipps thinks rapists walk out of prison and back to the life they once had, he’s delusional. They’re treated like criminals and rightly so. There’s a mistrust, a suspicion, a long-lasting slog, usually futile, towards society ever embracing them again. And rightly so. Phipps was frustrated that his club had to give in to people’s demands, that Evans would probably struggle to rebuild his professional life. It’s worrying that in situations like the Evans case, some believe there are two victims.

Over in Wigan, another chairman, Dave Whelan, has been charged by the FA after outlining his beliefs that there was little wrong in using a racial slur to refer to a person from China and “Jewish people chase money more than anybody else”. The comments were made when Whelan was asked to discuss his decision to appoint Malky Mackay as the club’s new manager.

Mackay, you see, is also being investigated by the FA after he sent emails and text messages to his friend Iain Moody when the pair worked together at Cardiff (before they were both sacked). The content was wide-ranging. There was a touch of “alleged” anti-Semitism, a sprinkling of “alleged” homophobia, a dash of “alleged” sexism and lots of “alleged” racism. Shortly after, the League Managers’ Association issued a statement defending Mackay’s behaviour, calling it “friendly text message banter”. Mackay himself stepped forward and offered up the excuse that from over 10,000 text messages, only three were “allegedly” offensive. He was under extreme stress when he sent them, he said. Then, there was the classic utterence that he was no “alleged” racist because he’d worked in a multi-cultural soccer world for over two decades.

And despite his relentless string of offences, last weekend Mackay was back as a manager. Whelan gave him a lifeline at Wigan and after his side recorded a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough, he spoke in glowing terms of the reception he received from the home supporters. Meanwhile, the 77-year-old Whelan has promised to resign his position if the FA “even suggests” he’s guilty. Like Mackay before him, Whelan’s defence is “I’m absolutely anti-racist”. Strong stuff.

It’s a pitiful argument. Perhaps Mackay and Whelan think racists walk around on the streets wearing placards declaring themselves as such. Keeping Mackay’s logic in mind, anyone who has ever worked with a person of a different culture cannot be racist. But much is made of their defiance, like it carries some weight. Count all the headlines that offer up something along the lines of “Mackay: I’m no racist” or “Whelan says he’s absolutely anti-racist”. As if both are actually contemplating admitting to feeling superior to ethnic, gender or sexuality minorities.

The most damning indictment of soccer’s fascination with grey areas is how Whelan and Mackay’s comments are “allegedly” racist and homophobic and sexist and anti-Semitic. That until some half-baked FA enquiry says otherwise, two men can use a racial slur in reference to Chinese people and there remains some doubt about whether it’s racism or not.

Soccer revels in grey. A recent report found that of 552 top coaching positions in the English game, black people or those from an ethnic minority filled 19 of them. That’s a crisis and a very public one. But we still hear terms like “hidden racism” as if it’s all one big secret. Watch a game from any division on a weekend and make a note of the amount of BME (black and minority ethnic) faces you see in the dugout. Here’s a hint: it’s not many.

Some things are clear cut. Evans should be treated like any other criminal – with contempt and shunned until society wishes to accept him again. As he mentioned himself, Mackay has a long history of working in multi-cultural dressing rooms which is why he should never be allowed in another one after his “alleged” racism, homophobia, sexism and anti-Semitism. Whelan should do the decent thing and step down.

All three individuals should be ashamed and retreat into the shadows. Yet, conditioned by their surroundings, they’ve brazenly stepped back into the limelight. They feel a statement written by a PR agency or an on-camera repentance, delivered with a solemn look, is enough.

And in the eternally grey soccer world, it usually is.

Eoin O'Callaghan is a soccer journalist and broadcaster. Best known in North America for his TV work with Fox Soccer, he has also reported extensively for BBC, RTE and Setanta Sports. He writes about soccer for The Irish Examiner newspaper, beIN Sports, One World Sports and TheScore.ie. Follow him @EoinOCallaghan