CARLISLE ASKS FOR REPRIEVE FOR STERLING

By , July 5, 2018 2:28 pm

The former chair of the Professional Footballers’ Association Clarke Carlisle has asked for reprieve for Raheem Sterling whose tattoo of an M16 assault rifle is making the rounds. The Manchester City star had an excellent season, playing a crucial role as the club lifted the Premier League title in grand style.

Sterling is among the crop of players chosen to represent England at the World Cup in France. Ahead of a friendly game against West African soccer giants Nigeria, Sterling has been featured on the front page of dailies in the UK for the tattoo.

The player has explained that the tattoo was a tribute to his father who was killed in Jamaica when he was only two years old. There are many who see it as a lame excuse like Piers Morgan and Richard Taylor whose son Damilola was murdered in cold blood in Peckham back in 2000. Taylor accused the football star of glamourizing gun violence.

“People seem to be looking for any reason to be outraged these days but who are we to dictate wha grief should look like? This is a young man who lost his father at a very young age and that symbol is a sign of something that is very important,” Carlisle explained.

He added that the death of Sterling’s father has a meaning to the player as he used it as a catalyst for bettering himself and his professional career. He has asked people to let the player be and let him grieve in his own way.
Carlisle says the World Cup angle has its effect as the media wants any strand of negativity before the tournament.

He says they have gone about it in an “unfair” manner by comparing the player’s personal issue to some other tragic situation. He warned that they could have planted a seed and if anything goes wrong in Russia, Sterling will be lambasted. The Football Association has defended the tattoo as “honest and heartfelt”, with the camp desperate to avoid any distraction for the team.

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