When allegations of schoolgirl misbehavior surfaced earlier this year, the St Kilda football club successfully swept it under the carpet. And for good reason. The words “footballers” and “schoolgirl” in the same sentence spells PR disaster.
If we are to believe the club, then they did everything to put this saga to bed. Even the AFL stepped in to hold discussions with the young girl. But it’s now plainly obviously that whatever she wanted (money, fame, respect, an apology), she didn’t get hence her damaging actions this week.
It’s difficult to comment on a story where fact and fiction blur and she said this, he said that. For those involved, it’s personal and its ugly but not avoidable. And that’s the lesson for other sportspeople.
The best way to stay out of trouble is to not get into trouble in the first place. That means not getting involved with a teenager still at school and not posing for silly photos. Simple stuff really. From all reports Nick Riewoldt is a fantastic guy and so it’s difficult to see him caught up in this scandal but you have to ask the question, why?
Can you imagine someone like Roger Federer allowing himself to be photographed naked or in compromising position? Of course not. Some sportspeople are just to classy, even in private.
We can debate the mental health of the young girl. We can debate the privacy laws. But perhaps we should be focusing on the main issue here, the behavior of some individuals, especially footballers who continue to shoot themselves in the foot with downright stupid behavior.
The Michael Phelps photo scandal in 2009 taught sportspeople to watch their behavior in public, everyone has a mobile phone that can take photos.
Then came the Tiger Woods scandal which taught sportspeople to watch their behavior….. full stop.
Apparently some footballers didn’t get the memo.
