That's a good post Circa. it's hard getting the balance right between justifiable indignation and tolerance but you make some good points there.
I know his crime is particularly awful but I just feel that at that age many have done some very very stupid things.
They're basically VW's but they aren't. I still don't rate them as cars. And this is coming from a man who drives a Toyota.
Personally most of the football world in Belgium seems to have decided to give him a second chance... he's been quite popular, Anderlecht want him and he's starting to be selected for the Belgium national team. Would you say they have no morals? or greater tolerance.
I'd worry that he's a little bit of a volatile character who will need to be dealt with very specifically but his talent is undeniable apparently (according to the likes of Kompany and Belgium national coach)
At the end of the day, many more famous players have done some pretty awful things and are currently playing in the PL.
I'd definitely have a problem with him if it was quite recent/did it while he was a city player.
However, I just feel that considering he was 16 and he hasn't exactly gotten away with it , spent a few years in jail, was part of a reeducation program where prisoners play football and train, I'd be inclined to give him a second chance.
It's a little bit awkward to think that if he had stabbed another 16 year old people probably wouldn't have as much an issue.
I know his crime is particularly awful but I just feel that at that age many have done some very very stupid things. It's a time where you're troubled and influenceable. Doubt he received much of an education... also he lived in an area of Brussels (used to live in Brussels) that I know pretty well which is 95% african and is just a big ghetto.
We can't know his level of involvement in the matter, all we know is that he hasn't gotten away with it but I personally feel inclined to forgive someone that age. You're not grown up, you make stupid choices or sometimes other people make them for you.
Personally most of the football world in Belgium seems to have decided to give him a second chance... he's been quite popular, Anderlecht want him and he's starting to be selected for the Belgium national team. Would you say they have no morals? or greater tolerance.
I'd worry that he's a little bit of a volatile character who will need to be dealt with very specifically but his talent is undeniable apparently (according to the likes of Kompany and Belgium national coach)
At the end of the day, many more famous players have done some pretty awful things and are currently playing in the PL.
I'd definitely have a problem with him if it was quite recent/did it while he was a city player.
However, I just feel that considering he was 16 and he hasn't exactly gotten away with it , spent a few years in jail, was part of a reeducation program where prisoners play football and train, I'd be inclined to give him a second chance.
It's a little bit awkward to think that if he had stabbed another 16 year old people probably wouldn't have as much an issue.
I know his crime is particularly awful but I just feel that at that age many have done some very very stupid things. It's a time where you're troubled and influenceable. Doubt he received much of an education... also he lived in an area of Brussels (used to live in Brussels) that I know pretty well which is 95% african and is just a big ghetto.
We can't know his level of involvement in the matter, all we know is that he hasn't gotten away with it but I personally feel inclined to forgive someone that age. You're not grown up, you make stupid choices or sometimes other people make them for you.
Condylomata acuminata
.I suspect he might not be quite as rehabilitated as some might think - he spent a night in jail as recently as April, after refusing to show his papers to police and then insulting them.
He scored two goals the next day in a 2-1 win, though!
Gang rape isn't stupid, it's appalling.
You're missing the point...
Most 16 year olds have done something "wrong".
It could be stealing, it could be stabbing, it could be raping.
All of these have different degrees of severity but the point is they're all possibilities and without generalising too much you could argue that many factors come into play. You may have only nicked a bike in your youth but you also weren't in a African mafia gang in a Brussels ghetto at such a young age, you may have received a different set of morals and education from your parents.
You can't treat these things black and white, that's ****ing daft frankly. It's easy for you to be all judgemental and condemn this but you don't even know what went on in his life and his head back then, you don't know how he feels about it now.
Personally, I don't agree with those who say "rape is rape". A 30 year old raping a 14 year old is not the same thing as a 16 year old doing so. A rape under the influence of cocaine is not the same as a sober one. A woman raping a man is not the same as the other way round.
PS: when I say "you" It is a generic you.