The uneasy spectre of sexual assault in sports and the degree to which people in positions of authority will look the other way in favor of athletic glory is not a new development.
Many incidents spring to mind in recent memory. Jameis Winston at Florida State, Rasheed Sulaimon at Duke, Adam Johnson in the English Premier League.
However, one story from the Cricket World Cup takes the cake.
According to some bombshell reporting from Vice Sports, it appears that practically the entire nation of Bangladesh conspired to ensure that one of its bowlers, Rubel Hossain, ducked a rape charge in order to travel to Australia to compete in the World Cup this month.
The woman he allegedly raped even came forward to publicly support her claims -- something we know is a devastatingly hard thing for any woman to do here in America, much less cricket-obsessed Southeast Asia. Hossain was also accused of a second crime, making a false promise of marriage, and was being held without bail.
However, from there a series of events came together to lift Hossain from jail and get him to the World Cup. His lawyers successfully filed a motion classifying his release as being “of national interest.” Media personalities and TV anchors shied away from reporting the heinous accusations against him, for fear of turning off viewers.
And then came the biggest farce of justice. Hossain performed so well in the Tigers’ recent match vs. England that the woman’s own lawyer announced on Facebook that he would be dropping her case, our of respect for her alleged rapist!
"From now, I'm no longer [this woman]'s lawyer. Congratulations Bangladesh Cricket Team!!!," he wrote. "I want to inform Bangladesh cricket fans that I took [her] case as a professional. I no longer wish to fight against Rubel after seeing Bangladesh succeed. Rubel should feel no pressure."
Read the rest of this harrowing story in its entirety at VICE SPORTS.
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