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| Ched Evans to train with Sheffield United after PFA request | |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| The convicted rapist Ched Evans will train with his former club Sheffield United later this week. | |
| Evans, who was freed from prison last month after serving half of a five-year sentence, has divided opinion as to whether he should return to the club for whom he scored 35 goals in 42 appearances in the 2011-12 season. | Evans, who was freed from prison last month after serving half of a five-year sentence, has divided opinion as to whether he should return to the club for whom he scored 35 goals in 42 appearances in the 2011-12 season. |
| As many as 157,000 people signed a petition urging Sheffield United not to re-sign the 25-year-old, who maintains his innocence and released a video statement on his personal website last month stating his intention to return to football. | As many as 157,000 people signed a petition urging Sheffield United not to re-sign the 25-year-old, who maintains his innocence and released a video statement on his personal website last month stating his intention to return to football. |
| However, a statement released on Tuesday afternoon confirmed that Evans will be allowed to train with his former club after receiving a request from the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA). | |
| “According to the request, this training would be with a view to enabling Mr Evans to get back to a level of fitness, which might enable him to find employment in his chosen trade,” read the statement. | |
| “This request has come to the club, because it is the last club at which Mr Evans was registered before his conviction.” | |
| The statement continued: “After due consideration, the board has decided to respond favourably to The PFA’s request and to allow Mr Evans to train at the club’s facilities.” | |
| The Sheffield United manager, Nigel Clough, has maintained that any decision to re-sign the striker will rest with the owners, Prince Abdullah Bin Musa’ad Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, and Kevin McCabe. But the statement adds that “the club is not prepared at this time to decide that issue”. |