Judy gives her verdict on football star’s gun tattoo
What did you make of footballer Raheem Sterling’s new tattoo? He made the front pages rather than the back this week – for all the wrong reasons.
Just weeks before the World Cup, England striker Raheem unveiled his new tattoo during a training session.
It’s a huge inking of an MI6 assault rifle on his right leg.
Cue uproar from anti-gun campaigners and various people in the media.
When I heard about it, it did sound like an ill-advised thing to do. Obviously, he can choose to have whatever he wants tattooed on his body, but there was always going to be an outcry over this particular design.
Well, I don’t like it. I do think it glamorises guns.
But he feels he has a good reason for getting it.
He lost his dad to gun violence, after he was shot dead when Raheem was just a toddler. He says it symbolises his vow never to touch guns and that he only shoots with his feet.
I understand it’s a tribute to his father but, being from Dunblane, I wish he had chosen something less aggressive to remember him by.
I would have thought that a sporting superstar like Raheem would have people around him who could have advised him that this wasn’t a good idea. Maybe he did. And maybe he chose to go ahead anyway.
Although the tattoo was a big story and there was a lot of criticism, Raheem did have his supporters. Gary Lineker tweeted: “Unique to this country to attempt to destroy our players morale before a major tournament. It’s weird, unpatriotic and sad.”
I have some sympathy with that. Gary will understand that, when you’re preparing for a major tournament like the World Cup, you must be emotionally secure and totally focused on the job. All of this is just a massive distraction. Distractions and doubts affect performances.
People might argue he’s a footballer, not a role model. Rightly or wrongly, being a role model and in the public eye is part of the deal when you sign up for a career in professional sport.
The sad thing is that Raheem Sterling seems a decent guy. He works with the police to steer youngsters away from crime and made a substantial donation to victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. He grew up not far from there.
It can be such a strange experience when you find yourself at the centre of a story like this.
It won’t just be him, either. His family will up involved through no fault of their own. His mum is bound to have been doorstepped by journalists and asked for her opinion.
When Andy played at Wimbledon in 2005, all of a sudden the attention level soared – for all of us.
It was scary to be plunged into the spotlight like that. I wonder if Raheem is regretting ever getting the tattoo in the first place.