Премьер лигийн аварга, Английн шигшээ багийн гишүүн асан Рахим Стерлинг хууль бус үйлдэл гаргасны улмаас шүүхийн өмнө зогслоо.
Рахим Стерлинг аюултай жолоодлого болон мансууруулах төрлийн бодис (инээдмийн хий) биедээ хадгалсан хэргээ хүлээн зөвшөөрч, Бэйсингстоук хотын шүүхэд мэдүүлэг өглөө. Энэ оны тавдугаар сарын 28-нд болсон хэрэг явдлын үеэр тэрээр 270,000 фунт стерлингийн үнэ бүхий Ламборгини автомашинаа хурд хэтрүүлэн жолоодож, замын хөдөлгөөнд оролцогчдын амь насанд аюул учруулсан нь тогтоогджээ. Шүүхээс түүнийг арваннэгдүгээр сарын 25-нд болох дараагийн хуралдаанаар хорих ял авах эрсдэлтэйг анхааруулсан байна.
Өдгөө 31 настай Стерлингийн хувьд Манчестер Сити, Челси, Арсенал, Ливерпүүл зэрэг томоохон багуудад хүчин зүтгэж, улмаар Фейеноорд багийг орхисноос хойш ажилгүй байгаа нь түүний карьерын уналтыг илтгэж байна. Челсид байх хугацаандаа үндсэн бүрэлдэхүүнээс хасагдаж, бие даан бэлтгэл хийх болсон нь түүний сэтгэл зүйн байдал болон мэргэжлийн түвшинд нөлөөлсөн байж болзошгүй гэж үзэж байна.
Хэдийгээр түүний өмгөөлөгчид ялыг хөнгөрүүлэх хүсэлт гаргаж буй ч, олны танил тамирчин хүний хувьд гаргасан энэхүү увайгүй үйлдэл нь түүний нэр хүндийг бүрмөсөн үгүй хийлээ. Стерлинг өөрөө ч “асуудалтай” байгаагаа хүлээн зөвшөөрсөн бөгөөд мэргэжлийн хөлбөмбөгчдийн холбоо түүнд тусламж үзүүлэх эсэх нь тодорхойгүй байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
As Raheem Sterling was preparing to leave the court building, a member of his entourage relayed the message that a small army of photographers was waiting outside.
It was time to face the cameras after the most ignominious experience of his life. “If I was you, I’d walk out backwards,” came the advice.
Sterling had just been informed by a district judge that when he returns to Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on November 25, there is a chance he will be sent to prison after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and possession of nitrous oxide,the Class C drug otherwise known as laughing gas.
Dashcam video of Raheem Sterling driving
Crown Prosecution Service
The worst may be yet to come, in other words, for a player who not too long ago was winning Premier League titles for Manchester City, playing in World Cups for England and collecting an MBE from the late Queen for services to football and racial equality.
And, of course, there won’t be many people who want to defend someone in that position — or, indeed, listen to any hard-luck stories — now the details have been outlined in court about his motorway rampage.
To be sitting in courtroom No 1 during his proceedings was to see, close-up, the lunacy — because lunacy is the only word that really feels appropriate — Sterling’s thinking before his drug-drive crash in the morning rush hour of May 28 this year.
Nitrous oxide canisters in Raheem Sterling’s car after his crash (Crown Prosecution Service)
We saw the dashcam footage that made it easier to understand why one of the motorists who rang the police said she had genuine concerns that somebody was going to be killed.
We heard how a flurry of 999 calls over a 67-minute period, from 7.45am to 8.52am, that three police forces were alerted to Sterling’s £270,000 ($364,000) Lamborghini weaving in and out of traffic, often way above the speed limit, while he inhaled from a balloon from behind the wheel.
We saw the damage to his car after he finally careered off the A327 in Hampshire and, most shockingly of all, we heard that he had been driving this way, dangerously out of control, long before he even hit the motorway. Yes, the first 999 call was made at 1.10am after he had sped into the McDonald’s drive-through in Hayes, north London, and started inhaling from a balloon while waiting for his food. Sterling would later admit he had been up all night.
What we never got, however, was any kind of detailed answers to the questions that inevitably arise from a case of this nature.
What happened, Raheem? What brought you to this point? Where did it all go wrong? And, perhaps most pertinently, can football learn anything from this?
Raheem Sterling was a Premier League title winner at Manchester City (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
That will become clearer, presumably, when the pre-sentence reports are considered for the hearing in November and we learn more about the file of mitigation that Sterling’s defence team has supplied to the judge, backed up by references from some of his former colleagues.
Until then, maybe it would be fairer to reserve some judgement. Let’s not fall into the trap of assuming that Sterling is immune to other people’s vulnerabilities just because he has been paid an absolute fortune by various clubs, including City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.
It isn’t easy being a non-footballing footballer and Sterling has had to deal with everything that brings — the loss of status, the diminished identity, the sudden feelings of inadequacy — in a way that he could never have imagined over the last few years. At 31, his career appears to be finished, or certainly straying dangerously close to that position. He hasn’t had a club since leaving Feyenoord, of the Dutch Eredivisie, at the end of last season. And it has been a painful, very public descent.
That is not to excuse the recklessness behind the wheel which could feasibly have led to a more serious, potentially tragic incident on the M25 and M3. Only good fortune and the actions of others spared the potential for casualties.
But it also feels important to know whether Sterling’s troubles have their origins in his last season at Chelsea, where he was ostracised, not even allowed to train or be around his old team-mates.
Body-worn video of Raheem Sterling’s arrest
Crown Prosecution Service
Sterling had seven months at Chelsea without playing a single game and ended up hiring a personal trainer to keep him fit. Again, it cannot fully excuse his flawed decision-making. It might, however, give us a better idea of his state of mind, his lack of professional focus, and why he struggled to make any kind of positive impact after joining Feyenoord, supposedly to get his career back on track.
For now, all that can be said with any real certainty is that something has gone badly wrong if a talented, high-profile footballer is endangering lives this way and telling police officers he has “a problem” with nitrous oxide.
His defence team will argue that a suspended prison sentence is enough, meaning he will not be locked away unless he reoffends within a set period. Maybe the judge will be lenient and agree that his early guilty pleas, plus his absence of previous convictions, should spare him.
But it is still a troubling case when you consider that the man in question was being heralded not so long ago as a role model for millions, and not just because he twice finished in the top 15 of the Ballon d’Or voting (2019 and 2021). Whatever is decided in November, Sterling has taken a sledgehammer to his own reputation.
That, perhaps, is the saddest thing, when so much debate has been created over the years about the media coverage of Sterling and the headlines that a young, successful black footballer can attract.
Many of us defended him at the time. We argued that he should be championed and that it was us, not him, who needed to change.
Today, though, it is a lot more complicated trying to speak up on his behalf. The headlines will be fierce, and deservedly so. It will be the same again when the sentencing is passed, no matter which way the judge goes. And the danger here is that it might get lost among all the commentary that, at the heart of everything, there is a young man who admits he has “a problem”.
It wasn’t explained in court, almost four months after his arrest, whether it remains a problem. Or, indeed, whether ‘problem’ is another way of saying addiction. But you would hope the players’ union, the Professional Footballers’ Association, among others, is trying to find out. Because it might just be that Sterling needs help as well as punishment.
