I’ve also been following your blog recently and think the article on John Terry raises some interesting questions.

I think that we live in a world where private lives are ever more scutinised, particularly if someone is in the public eye or has a position of responsibility. But surely our private lives should be private whoever we are, unless someone has done something in their ‘private’ life that has an adverse effect on their ability to execute their professional duties.

Do you agree?

Adrian

Whether it’s John Terry cuckolding his England teammate or, worse in many respects, David Bentley wrapping his car around a tree, I think football clubs have a right to demand decent behaviour in return for the millions they pay their players–as in effect, their visibility makes the world their workplace and thus subject to workplace discipline.

In contrast, a City banker–even one on similar pay–does not have nearly the visibility or the ambassadorial element of the job a top footballer does.

The market could regulate this quite easily–very few football clubs would give their highly-paid charges carte blanche, but very few banks would want to restrict out-of-office activities of bankers for fear of losing them to other institutions…