Sigurdsson and Partey up against British Justice

Sigurdsson must be livid.

The player must have been unsellable whilst the investigation was ongoing.

It was a loss to the creativity of the team at that time, along with James Rodriguez departing also that summer, completely killed us dead where we nearly got relegated the following season.

I've always said it, take goals out of your team and you will struggle.

So it is life on hold, or career-ending stuff, whether the subject sweeps streets or is a rock star.

Do we need to speculate on this or shall we just wait and see?

Mr Sigurdsson hasn't made any public statement that I am aware of, nor has the club, so we still don't know anything like the full story, or how much there is to tell...

I think Partey has been allowed to carry on playing because he has crucially denied all charges whereas I don't believe that this was the case with Sigurdsson?

Sigurdsson never denied being with an alleged underaged female, and I think this was crucial with regards the way he was immediately taken out of the squad by Everton?

Close but not quite right.

Almost all organisations have "safeguarding" policies in place and generally if there are allegations regarding a member of staff and a minor... a suspension will automatically follow even if the allegations are vehemently denied by the accused.

I haven't followed the Partey case in any great detail but I suspect there are no allegations involving minors.

That's the difference between the two cases.

Sigurdsson was never charged. That's one of the massive differences this throws up.

The evidence against him — after an astounding, surely completely indefensible 2 years of investigation — was deemed insufficient by CPS to proceed to prosecution.

Partey has been allowed to carry on playing because he has crucially denied all charges.

I don't believe that's true at all. He has only just been charged. He has been under investigation for 3 years and was allowed to carry on playing because Arsenal failed to suspend him despite concerns expressed by Arsenal Supporters Against Sexual Violence.

The specific crimes Sigurdsson was investigated for were never made public to my knowledge… but somehow you seem to know what he did, and that he never denied doing it?

The story includes this:

Dino Nocivelli, a partner at legal firm Leigh Day, told The Telegraph: “I think the fact that the defendant in these cases has been able to continue his working life is wrong and clearly sends the wrong message for such serious allegations as rape and sexual assault.

“The player should have been suspended while his football club and the (English) Football Association investigated the allegations, with no prospect of resuming his work until the investigations were concluded.”

The article talks about other cases, including this one:

Sunderland were willing to continue playing the former England winger Adam Johnson after he was charged for having sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl. Johnson remained a regular starter up until the weekend before the beginning of his trial, where he pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child under the age of 16 and grooming. Sunderland only terminated Johnson's contract at that point. He was later sentenced to six years in prison.

And this one:

Another case, maintaining the anonymity of the professional footballer arrested throughout, took a very different approach.

That player was suspended by his club shortly after his arrest in July 2021 on suspicion of multiple child sex offences and remained unavailable throughout his time on bail. He was told he would face no action 21 months later, after his case failed to “reach the threshold set out on the Code for Crown Prosecutors”.

Hmmm... so we still don't know who that was???

Those reports are merely reflecting the "innocent until proven guilty" mantra and suggesting that in terms of violence against women... that shouldn't necessarily be sacrosanct.

I actually have a lot of sympathy with that view but fortunately the issue is well beyond my paygrade.