SFA adviser on equality: We should review the decision to clear rapist players of shaming their sport

The Scottish Football Association’s decision not to charge two stars with bringing the game into disrepute after they were ruled rapists in court should be reviewed, according to a member of its equalities advisory board.

Mary Galbraith says she will ask for the decision, taken in 2018 after a civil court ruled David Goodwillie and David Robertson had raped a woman, to be on the agenda at a future meeting of the SFA’s equalities and diversity board.

Lawyers for rape survivor Denise Clair wrote to the SFA in 2018 to ask if action would be taken against the players but were told that, after a review, it was decided they would not be charged with bringing the game into disrepute.

Ms Clair won a landmark civil case against Goodwillie and his then teammate Robertson but Goodwillie resumed his senior career at Clyde before a transfer to Raith Rovers in January sparked a fresh outcry.

Last week we told how Ms Clair had criticised the SFA for supporting a new campaign against male violence against women despite failing to take action against the players who raped her. “Actions count but words are cheap,” she said, “and so is hypocrisy.

“It was impossible to understand the decision then and even harder now. If raping someone does not bring the game into disrepute, then what would?”

David Goodwillie’s victim tells SFA: Words are cheap and so is hypocrisy

Now Galbraith, a management consultant who has worked with the Metropolitan Police, has said the decision should be discussed again. She said: “Like all these decisions, they are never easy and I think sometimes the benefit of hindsight shows that maybe it wasn’t right.”

Galbraith said she will ask that the decision is put on the agenda for the next meeting of the SFA’s six-strong equalities and diversity board, launched to “provide advice and guidance on all equality matters”.

She said: “I certainly think it should be on our agenda. I know that in terms of timescales it is less than ideal because we don’t meet often. Justice delayed is justice denied so it would be better to get it done more quickly so it would make sense for us as a board to consider it and to reach an opinion about whether or not we would request that compliance officer judgment to be revisited in light of the four years that have passed.

“The decision could remain, it could be overturned. But it is about fairness because any intervention needs to be done in a way that respects the rights of all parties.

“In all probability the first step I will take is contact our newly appointed equality and advisory officer and relatively new chief governance officer at the SFA, and say here’s what I’m thinking, what do you think? I would say I think this is something we need to discuss at our next advisory board.”

In the face of widespread criticism, led by best-selling novelist and Raith Rovers fan Val McDermid, the Fife club U-turned on signing Goodwillie within days.

However, the club’s attempt to return him to Clyde on loan for the rest of the season also fell apart after North Lanarkshire Council, which owns Broadwood stadium where the club plays, said it would lose its lease if Goodwillie was allowed inside.

Last week, Raith Rovers were accused of hypocrisy after voicing support for a “gender equal world” on International Women’s Day.