Like hundreds of thousands of Capetonians who support Manchester United, columnist Gasant Abarder has been a fan for more than three decades. But in his latest #SliceofGasant, he announces that he is taking a sabbatical from that fanatical support until the world’s biggest football club can restore his confidence that it is serious about fighting gender-based violence.
Abarder, who recently launched his book, Hack with a Grenade, is among the country’s most influential media voices. Catch his weekly column here, exclusive to Cape {town} Etc.
I had just come home from a Sunday social footie session with the lads of Woodstock Wanderers when my nephew, an ardent Manchester United fan like me, sent me the following WhatsApp message: “Disappointed in Mason (with a matching emoji).”
I knew immediately who he was talking about as there is only one Mason on my radar these days. Mason Greenwood, a prodigious young football talent who makes scoring goals look easy.
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My first thought was the young football star had been caught in another sex scandal while travelling with the England team during the international break.
But the video my nephew sent me in response to my question of what he had done suggested this was far worse. His girlfriend of the past three years had posted images and audio suggesting a violent and sexual assault.
*Warning: the following Instagram post contains graphic images. Not for sensitive viewers.
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Later, reports from journalists indicated that a man in his 20s had been arrested on suspicion of assault. I was horrified and wanted him out of my club immediately.
To say that I was disappointed by the behaviour of the world’s biggest football club Manchester United, in the wake of the allegations, is an understatement.
The club sent out a short message via football journalists saying simply: “We are aware of images and allegations circulating on social media. We will not make any further comment until the facts are established. Manchester United does not condone violence of any kind.”
Later still, just before the reports of an arrest, the club stated that Greenwood would be suspended indefinitely from matches and training.
Now, for a club who posts about everything – including embarrassing sponsorship deals about its official pillow supplier – this simply wasn’t good enough. This iconic brand should have issued a club statement and posted on social media for its army of fans – many of them women, including my 9-year-old daughter.
But by signing Cristiano Ronaldo at the start of the season the club had already painted itself into a corner. It signed the veteran player knowing full well of the allegation of rape hanging over his head. Ronaldo himself had said in a sworn affidavit about the allegation: “She said ‘no’ and ‘stop’ several times… She said that she didn’t want to, but she made herself available… But she kept saying ‘no’. ‘Don’t do it.’ ‘I’m not like the others.’ I apologised afterwards.” Ronaldo and his lawyers claim it’s a fabricated statement.
Also read: Why I won’t be chanting Ronaldo’s name
Ronaldo is seemingly beyond answering the allegations. A man considered a talisman of the team who is no doubt a mentor to Greenwood and the other young players at the club.
Further, a Man United fan with a conscience can’t ignore the club’s continued support and fêting of Ryan Giggs – a club legend who is also accused of assault of a woman.
It is sickening when the club has a women’s senior team. What must these women footballers be thinking in the wake of these latest allegations? Equally sickening are the legions of hundreds of thousands of male fans of Manchester United here in Cape Town, South Africa and all over the globe, who are asking for receipts.
There are far more important things than your football club’s success, collecting football shirts and backing your team no matter what. That ‘no matter what’ must have a shelf life surely in circumstances like these?
I have supported Manchester United since I was a 10-year-old. I have continued that fanatical support over 33 years and remained loyal – despite the last eight lean years for its bulging trophy cabinet. That support is being seriously tested. I don’t know if I can buy another shirt to add to my collection of 47.
I am embarrassed to say that my support continued with the club’s ongoing celebrating of Giggs and the re-signing of Ronaldo early in the season. I thought I could blank out these two fallen heroes but the club’s behaviour should have told me otherwise.
I’m afraid the latest scandal is a bridge too far. I’m taking a sabbatical from Manchester United until they can show me that their players taking a knee against racism week in and week out, supporting the LGBQTI+ communities by wearing rainbow ribbons and its statements against gender-based violence are not just hollow slogans.
I’ll be watching you Manchester United. But for now, I am a lapsed – and very embarrassed – Manchester United supporter.
My sympathies lie with the young woman who had blood covering her face in the wake of the allegations against Greenwood and all the women victims of spoilt young men who believe their talent and inflated paycheques give them the right to feel entitled.
Also read:
Day 11: Can I lose my child/children if I report abuse? And other FAQs
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