Update 4 | British government says Evans barred from joining Hibernians

The UK Ministry of Justice have shot down Maltese club Hibernians FC’s dreams of signing former Sheffield United striker and convicted rapist Ched Evans. They said that Evans, as a convicted sex offender on license, was barred from working outside of the United Kingdom.

“We are determined to have one of the toughest regimes in the world for managing sex offenders, to stop them re-offending and to protect victims,” the Ministry of Justice said in a statement. “Probation officers must give permission for sex offenders on licence to take up new jobs and this includes ensuring they hold regular face-to-face meetings- this effectively rules out working abroad.”   

Evans, 26, was released from prison in October after serving half of a five-year sentence for raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room back in 2011. Hibernians, currently 15 points clear at the top of the Maltese Premier League, revealed on Friday that they have offered Evans a six-month contract. A spokesman for Evans has denied that the player has received a contract offer from the Maltese club, dubbing the story "false". 

“We are looking for a top striker and Ched fits the bill,” Hibernians sponsor Stephan Vaughan said. “We’ve spoken to his agent and offered a deal until the end of the season.”
Vaughan has been quoted by the British media as being Hibernians' vice-president but club secretary Steve Abela has said that he is only the club's sponsor. 

Hibernians technical director Jeffrey Farrugia told Sky Sports News that Evans made a ‘mistake’ and that his club is willing to offer him a second chance.

“He was punished and he did his sentence so he should have a second chance, and our club is ready, the door is open for him to start his new career again in professional football,” Farrugia said.

'I don't think it's a wrong message. Everybody in life makes mistakes, so you should have your second chance.”

Malta international goalkeeper Justin Haber, who played for Sheffield United between 2008 and 2010, is a former team-mate of Evans. The Malta Tourism Authority had sponsored Sheffield United between 2008 and 2011, a deal worth €446,215 that included the Visitmalta.com logo emblazoned on the club's kit. The MTA ended the deal once the Blades were relegated from the Championship to Division One.

When Evans was invited to train with Sheffield United back in November, television presenter Charlie Webster quit as club patron, Olympian Jessica Ennis-Hill asked for her name to be removed from one of the stands at Bramall Lane, and two shirt sponsors threatened to quit. Sheffield United ended up retracting their decision to allow Evans to train with them, saying that they had not anticipated the intensity of the public reaction.

However, Farrugia believes that no such protests will be held at Hibernians’ stadium. “There won't be anything of this at our club,” he said. “I can't understand sometimes how English football, English clubs, think about all these things. Everybody must have a second chance. He paid for what he did, for us it's not an issue.”

“For a player like him, it's good to come to Malta to play these 26 games. He will be in the window for the end of season, many clubs I'm sure they will go for him, so it's good for him to come here and enjoy the game of football.

“He’s a big asset for our club, to have the big quality of this player join our club. We need players like him in Malta.'

Footballers are role models. Hibs decision will define them + to an extent #Malta. I hope mgmt understand this clearly before final decision

— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) January 3, 2015

Scottish Championship side Hibernian evidently do not share this sentiment, sending out a tweet on Friday saying: 'Just to clarify, we are #Hibs of Scotland and not #Hibernians of Malta. Should that ever change we'll let you all know. '

In a tweet, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat warned the management of Hibernians FC that footballers are role models and that signing Evans could damage the reputation of their club and, to an extent, the reputation of Malta.

Ched Evans should be given a second chance. If we believe in rehabilitation of ex-prisoners we should practice what we preach.

— Owen Bonnici (@OwenBonnici) January 3, 2015

Issa l-PM jinkwieta ghad-dehra ta' Malta? Nesa li Shiv Nair u l-bejgh tac-cittadinanza rridikolawna mad-dinja?... http://t.co/JJaMqpchFL

— Jason Azzopardi (@AzzopardiJason) January 3, 2015

"I hope the management understand this clearly before making a final decision," Muscat said.

However, in a contradictory tweet, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said that Ched Evans should be given a second chance. "If we believe in the rehabilitation of prisoners, we should practice what we preach," Bonnici said.

Shadow home affairs minister Jason Azzopardi, honorary president of Hibernians FC and a dedicated Hibs supporter, told MaltaToday that Evans deserves a second chance.

“I am not saying this because I support Hibernians,” Azzopardi told MaltaToday. “I’d have said the same thing if I was a supporter of Comino FC or Timbaktu FC.

“It would be a completely different situation if we were talking about a convicted paedophile working at a football nursery, but hat’s wrong with employing a footballer found guilty of rape if he is no longer a danger to society?” Azzopardi questioned. “Can anyone guarantee that every footballer playing in Malta has a clean conduct?”

In an earlier tweet, Azzopardi had mocked the Prime Minister, saying: "So the Prime Minister is concerned about Malta's image now. Has he forgotten how the issues of Shiv Nair and the sale of citizenship ridiculed us around the world?"

In comments to MaltaToday, he also said that Muscat “is the last person” who should preach morality over the Evans issue given how he had embraced former Labour candidate Cyrus Engerer back into the fold as a “soldier of steel”.

“Engerer was convicted of revenge porn by a criminal court and Muscat painted him as a hero, a victim and a soldier of steel,” Azzopardi said. 

He also made reference to a charity football game held last month between inmates, MPs and personalities.

“If, for argument’s sake, one of those inmates was a sexual offender, would he be disallowed from playing for a Maltese football club after he gets released?” Azzopardi asked. “After all, that charity football match was held to promote the message that inmates can be reintegrated and give something back to society.”

When reminded of Muscat’s assertion that footballers are supposed to be role models, Azzopardi said that everybody should act as role models.

“Are there exceptions to reintegration?” he asked. “Is somebody going to draw up a code of ethics explicitly stating which convicted sportspeople are allowed to reintegrate? There will be so many contradictions in the logic of such a code that it will instantly fall apart.

“The Evans situation can act as an eye-opener on how we think about the rehabilitation of prisoners.” 

'Malta can use Ched Evans case to send message of reintegration to the world'

Malta should use the Ched Evans issue to send a message to the world that people who have paid for their mistakes deserve a second chance, Malta Football Players Association deputy secretary Konrad Sultana said.

“People who pay for their mistakes through jail-time deserve a chance to rehabilitate and reintegrate by practicing the trade that they know,” Sultana told MaltaToday, while denying Muscat’s opinion that Hibernians’ signing of Evans could tarnish Malta’s reputation.

“Somehow, singers who abuse of drugs get treated like heroes, while errors committed by sportspeople stick to them for life.” When reminded that Evans was convicted of rape, Sultana said that “it was still a mistake”.

He also pointed out that while footballers are considered to be role models in England, this was “absolutely not” the case for footballers plying their trade in Malta.