Convicted rapist and former Sheffield United striker Ched Evans has been granted permission to train with the Yorkshire club after serving half of a five year sentence.
Although the footballer remains a free agent, many see his return to training with the club that signed him for £3 million in 2009, as a sign that he will be able to return to professional football despite his crimes.
The 25 year-old Welshman pled not guilty to allegations of rape in 2011 but was found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman. Evans still maintains that he is innocent and that the sex was consensual.
The move comes despite over 155,000 people signing a petition to not allow Evans to return to football as well as calls from politicians to prevent Evans returning to a role where he would be idolised. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg had called for the club's owners to "think really long and hard" before re-signing Evans.
The MP for Sheffield Hallam, said: "When you take a footballer on, you are not taking just a footballer these days, you are also taking on a role model."Sheffield Central MP Paul Blomfield said the club's move to allow Evans to retrain with the club: "sends a disturbing message to young people and victims of sexual violence".
Political Pressure
The End Violence Against Women Coalition has pleaded with the FA and to Culture Minister Sajid Javid to show more understanding to the seriousness of sexual violence and to demonstrate that no one is above the law. A statement from the group addressed to the FA stated: “We are appalled that top football club Sheffield United are taking the first step to allowing an unrepentant convicted rapist back into their team this week.
"Footballers are critical role models for young men and women in particular, and the player concerned is now set to return to top-flight football when he has shown no remorse for his crime”
Despite the calls for Evans to be removed it is understood that the Professional Footballers Association have backed Evans rehabilitation in football and requested United to allow him to train. The PFA chief Gordon Taylor said: "It is a fundamental part of the justice system in this country and society in general that a person serves the punishment which the court determines is appropriate and, providing that has been done, an individual is entitled to be released to continue with his or her life."
TV presenter and patron of Sheffield United, Charlie Webster has since resigned from her position due to the potential reinstatement of Evans. She said: "My decision is made on the fact that I don't believe a convicted rapist, as in Ched Evans, should go back to a club that I am patron of and should go back into the community to represent the community."
She added: "He's not just going into a job, he's bandied as a role model, we cheer him on as a role model and he's influencing the next generation of young men who are currently still making their decisions on how to treat women and what sexual mutual consent is”
Despite this the club insisted it had considered the views of all parties and stakeholders involved in Sheffield United before allowing him to train with the side.
An appeal against Evans's conviction was rejected by the Court of Appeal in 2012.
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