Sport is no longer untouchable. From Novak Djokovic to Mark Overmars, dozens of cases in recent months show that currently being an idol of the masses on the pitch no longer exempts from public lynching if the rules are not respected, even more so if they carry out criminal acts towards which society is especially sensitive, such as gender violence. The cocktail made up of the rise of networks, the pandemic society and the new ethical codes has designed a new landscape where athletes have to tread carefully, accustomed until recently to a much more permissive preserve, where neither the fans, nor the sponsoring companies nor
the clubs passed bills. A new reality that is perfectly displayed in the events that took Manchester United player Mason Greenwood from one of the most promising strikers in Europe to a pariah in just a few days.
The Englishman was arrested on January 30 after his ex-partner, Harriet Robson, uploaded several photos of his body full of bruises to his social networks and even a video in which he came out bleeding from the lip. “For everyone who wants to know what Mason Greenwood really does to me.” The 20-year-old player spent two days in the dungeon after being accused of rape and abuse. Released and only 48 hours later behind bars again after accumulating two new charges (sexual assault and death threats). Despite the fact that the player is currently on bail while the Police continue with the investigation, without the Englishman being declared guilty yet, society has shown zero tolerance towards him.
First it was his club that suspended him from employment and salary until the case is clarified. Several of his teammates, according to the Anglo-Saxon media ‘Daily Mail’, stopped following him on social networks and even, if one dives into the official Manchester United store, it is impossible to find a product with Greenwood’s name or his number, the 11. Nike, the company that sponsors the player, has terminated his millionaire contract and in the famous FIFA 22 video game, Greenwood has disappearedimpossible to line up the striker with Manchester United, not even in virtual reality.
From heroes to notables
“Sport is an expression of the prevailing social values and, therefore, the athlete is always judged based on the moral frame of reference of the time,” he explains to ABC David Moscoso, sports sociologist at the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville. For the professor, athletes have always been the mythical heroes of our time and indisputable values have been associated with them, such as respect for others or effort. However, society has changed and has new demands on them, even off the pitch.
«Currently, many of the values that have been prevailing in our society in the second half of the 20th century seem to be faltering. Athletes are judged like any other relevant public figure, along the same lines as, for example, Boris Johnson, after it was discovered that the British prime minister organized private parties while decreeing the confinement of English citizens ». An analysis that is perfectly explained in the dismissal of Overmars, struck down by the architect of the current Ajax after it was shown that he sent photos of his genitals to employees of the Dutch club.
In Moscoso’s opinion, another relevant factor is how society has changed during the pandemic and how deep reflection has been abandoned. “It has become much more polarized. He has led our society to abandon the space of measure. The acts of athletes are no exception”, analyzes the sociologist while exemplifying the argument with the case of Novak Djokovicin which being one of the most recognizable athletes on the planet did not help him avoid an almost unprecedented public lynching.
To Messi, when he had to pay four million euros to the Treasury in 2016 after it was shown that he had evaded taxes, Barcelona’s response was to launch a support campaign (with great success on the networks) for the Argentine with the motto ‘We are all Messi’. The former Villarreal player Ruben Semedo, after spending 142 days in prison in 2018 after being convicted of kidnapping, robbery, injuries and illegal possession of weapons, he managed to sign for Huesca on loan shortly after leaving the Picassent penitentiary. Jeff Taylor, current Real Madrid basketball forward, was suspended when he was playing in the NBA for 24 games after being guilty of domestic violence charges. He never played in the United States again but was hired by the whites shortly after leaving the North American league. Some scenarios juxtaposed to the one he lives these days. for example, Kurt Zouma, center back of English West Ham. After he published a home video in which he kicked his cats, Adidas has cut off his tap and his club has left him without salary for two weeks (300,000 euros) while the animal rights associations besiege him.
Social networks
For Chema Lamiran, director of Digital Media Sports, a company specialized in designing personal brands for athletes, social networks have influenced the fading of athletes’ armor. «There is a trend in which they want to create an emotional bond through the networks with their fans, as if they were your friends, because sports successes are soon forgotten. But when cases like those of Greenwood or Zouma happen, the detachment that is generated and the repercussion is greater. Lamirán also argues that athletes are the Hollywood stars of the 1940s today, an image that makes them responsible for their actions: “They have to give back to society everything it gives them, which is a lot.”
