Is Atakan Karazor the perpetrator or the victim? That is the question and the truth is probably only known to the VfB Stuttgart player, a friend of his and an 18-year-old Spaniard who initially accused the two of rape. There is now talk of sexual assault. It’s one word against the other. Karazor has already spent six weeks in pre-trial detention in Ibiza but is now free after posting bail.
Karazor is even so free that he was allowed to play football again last weekend. When the midfielder came on as a substitute in the 90th minute of the draw against Leipzig, most of the fans in the Stuttgart Arena cheered. A few boos could also be heard. And when the game was over, VfB sporting director Sven Mislintat ran up to the 25-year-old and hugged him tightly.
During the past few days, players and sporting officials have only praised the player who, despite being in custody, managed to appear in top form for the start of the Bundesliga and whose voice, as VfB coach Pellegrino Matarazzo emphasized, is so important for the team.
Sven Mislintat is right when he refers to the presumption of innocence. And it is also true, as he recently complained in a podcast, that in our time – especially in social media – one or rather thousands of ugly judgments are made about young footballers too quickly.
Nevertheless, the way the club treats the player seems strange. The allegations against Atakan Karazor are still in the room, he is only released under certain conditions. It is therefore one thing to refer to the valid legal situation and to protect your employees. But it’s something else to celebrate a Bundesliga player who is a role model and who is the subject of sexual assault proceedings. As long as Karazor is not cleared of the allegations, VfB should show a little less reverence for him. So Karazor seems rehabilitated before there is any clarity about guilt or innocence.
