Madam, - The Chelsea football player Adrian Mutu was recently discovered to have taken cocaine. Subsequently, reports have stated that he could be banned from playing for up to two years.
Cocaine is a recreational drug and does not enhance a player's performance. But the prevalent argument is that a professional soccer star, playing the world's most popular sport, is admired by millions of young people. Therefore his actions set an example.
When news of Bill Clinton's womanising was revealed to the world, there was a generally tolerant reaction. Most people felt he should not be vilified for actions in his private life. And we constantly read of drug scandals concerning popular musicians, singers and celebrity actors. These performers are probably more idolised by today's youth than anyone else in the public sphere. But I don't recall ever having read of a pop star being banned for two years from public performance because of actions which set a bad example.
Surely young people are capable of differentiating between a person's actions in their private life and those of their profession. Isn't a two-year ban excessively harsh for Adrian Mutu? - Yours, etc.,
DANNY COMERFORD, Beechpark, Dunmurray, Kildare.