sp1814 - //Ched Evans is guilty of one thing - cheating on his girlfriend. //
That's a moral iussue, rather than a legal one, as I am sure you would agree.
//If his appeal had failed, he would still be 'a rapist' //
No, he would be a convicted rapist, without the inverted commas.
// However, he has been exonerated. Sheffield United would be in a tricky position if they refused him his job back.
Exactly the same as anyone in his position. //
They haven't 'refused him his job back. If you recall, his contract with Sheffield cancelled, they are under no legal or moral obligation to re-employ him.
What they have done is signed him from another club, which is a straight-forward transfer deal, in no way conditioned by any need, legal or moral to employ him under any circumstances.
Let's not pretend here - Sheffield are getting Evans at a bargain basement price far below the price he would have attracted if he could have behaved like a civilised human being. Their largesse is motivated by money, as it should be, they are a business, but let's not confuse the idea that they were obliged to re-employ him - clearly they were not.
// If football teams refused to sign players who have affairs, there would be roughly 17 players left in the Premier League. //
Evans didn't have 'an affair' - he engaged in sexual activity with a complete stranger who was too drugged to know what day it was.
Let's not dignify his behaviour by inferring that he simply cheated on his partner with another woman - his action was far more repugnant than that.