Should we accept Jamie Carragher’s apology for spitting?

IT’S difficult to think of anything more disgusting than spitting at another human being. On the football pitch, players regard it as the ultimate no-no. Incidents such as Frank Rijkaard spitting on Rudi Voller in the 1990 World Cup are so foul – and, to be fair, rare – that they live long in infamy.

And when players are caught at it – the likes of Liverpool’s El Hadji Diouf, Arsenal’s Patrick Vieira and Manchester United’s Jonny Evans – the authorities come down on them like a ton of bricks.

So no one should dismiss Liverpool legend and now Sky pundit Jamie Carragher’s behaviour as anything other than grotesque and revolting. Spitting at anyone is bad enough but Carragher’s spit hit a 14-year-old schoolgirl.

There is, however, another side to this story. We are all human. We all err. We all, to be blunt, screw up.

Jamie Carragher has been suspended by Sky, which is the right thing. The issue now is what happens next. Should his punishment mean that he becomes a non-person, removed forever from the airwaves and from his new profession as a TV analyst?

Actions do have consequences and his foul behaviour certainly deserves to have a consequence.

BUT what kind of society would we be if we punish one mistake, one slip, one act of stupidity with what amounts to eternal damnation?

In the aftermath of the incident, and the publicity it (rightly) attracted, Jamie Carragher’s response wasn’t to go into hiding, to make a statement via his solicitor or to pretend it wasn’t serious.

Instead, he contacted the girl’s family to apologise, unreservedly. He went on TV and radio and offered what seemed a heartfelt apology.

There was nothing mealymouthed about it. All too often, when a public figure is caught out, they offer what has become known as the “non-apology apology”, where they don’t apologise for what they have done but – typically – for “any offence I have given”. There was a classic example of this last year when the Labour MP Emma Dent Coad, who attacked a black Conservative politician Shaun Bailey as a “token ghetto boy”, responded to criticism by apologising for

YESON FIRST viewing of the video, Jamie Carragher’s spitting at a 14-year-old girl is just as shocking as her father filming it at the wheel of his car. Both men were driving. Both men were unconcerned about the safety of the teenager sat between them. Both men thought the result of a football match worth risking all three of their lives for.

The girl’s dad ran to the papers, brandishing his video as proof a former member of a team he despises was behaving badly.

And as a result, that dad has been “given advice” by police about his driving while Carragher has been ritually humiliated on the TV news.

But neither man has had a reasonable punishment. The dad should have been arrested for driving offences.

Half the country now thinks it’s funny, and potentially a money-spinner, to use your mobile phone to film from behind the wheel.

An example must surely be set and if the police had done so there wouldn’t be a parent in the land who’d say it was wrong to at least put some points on his driving licence.

Jamie Carragher has been reduced almost to tears, but whether that is due to the extent of his remorse, a sleepless night or the prospect of losing £1million a year “analysing” football for Sky Sports is up for debate.

But again, half the country has been given the wrong message.

They’ve seen – not that it’s wrong to hurl a mouthful of phlegm at a stranger – but wrong to do it only if a young

NOERHAPS the police are reluctant to arrest a footballer. Maybe a girl being spat at isn’t assault in quite the same way it would be if it was a copper.

Football is a game beloved by millions. It has spent decades trying to overcome its hooligan reputation and be a sport for families to enjoy.

And those in the game with the highest profiles are now used to being ambassadors and exemplars of good behaviour.

Carragher has failed at that, just as the police have failed to apply the law equally.

In any other job, Carragher would be at least on a final warning, if not fired for bringing his employer into disrepute.

Or he’d be demoted, or his pay docked, or his tearful apology wouldn’t cut the mustard with customers or the police, who would normally be only too happy to use a high-profile crime as a way to reinforce messages on both road safety and random street violence.

But it seems like it’s one rule for the beautiful game and another for us. The police will arrest us but not him. They’ll talk to one of them and not the other.

And we are expected to accept a sorry from a famous footballer when we wouldn’t take it from anybody else.