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Comment by _ofdw | Hacker News Reader

Unpopular opinion: He was a gifted footballer but was a total piece of shit in nearly all other aspects of life including abusing women and minors, to say nothing of his complete lack of sportsmanship on the pitch.

I hate that this guy gets lionized. To me it just underlines everything wrong with football.

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He was flawed, but far from being a piece of shit. I strongly suggest you put aside your prejudices about him and try to understand both his lights and shadows. He was always on the side of the downtrodden and poor people everywhere. He never abused minors, that one was Pelé. And he always cared about his colleagues, you won't find anyone in football that says or has said otherwise.

There is photographic evidence of him partying naked with minors, corroborated by witnesses.

Witnesses can be bought. Pictures can't be fully trusted (unless you think you can see someone's age floating above their head). Give me judicial processes and hard evidence if there's any.

This is a topic I loathe, and I will not search for and provide any of the photographic evidence even if they've been published on many tabloids as they're absolutely sickening, not to mention possibly illegal on some jurisdictions.

There's no one who's willing to initiate court proceedings about these matters (it's particularly hard on countries like Cuba), so if the existing public evidence is not enough for you, then nothing will be, so there's no further discussion to be had as it's unlikely any further developments will occur now that he's died.

I fail to see how "lionizing" someone for their performance or their actions in a specific domain undermines all the wrongs one has done in their life. Sure, perhaps most people will only remember him as a great footballer without talking about the wrong actions he has done during his life, but a) most of them wouldn't have cared anyway and b) one can still see both sides of the coin and admit one's wrongdoing despite one's good performance or results.

I'm far from being a connoisseur about football and sports in general though, so I don't exactly know what this guy has done, but this can be applied to any man on this Earth.

It’s a question of the message sent to others: if the unpleasant parts are omitted or excused, there’s a good chance that some people will conclude that those things don’t matter if you’re successful enough. That attitude has negative effects on society since the bad behavior happens even if the success never does.

Well... I admire Kevin Spacey's acting career and think he is an amazing actor. That (for me) doesn't clash with the fact that I detest his alleged molestation of people.

And similarly with other Uruguayan football player who apparently is an asshole but I have to give it to him that his football playing abilities are amazing.

I don’t think many people will claim that he was a good person. He’s lionized for his football playing, like Messi.

He’s lionized for his political stance and rockstar like way of life too.

A lot of people in my country also like/dislike him for his political opinions. A lot of people do claim he was a good person. Others hated him or mocked him. He had transcended football.

Yeah, they prefer someone who doesn't speak his mind, like Messi. That way they can enjoy the footballer without having to deal with any contradictions that person might have.

Not much need for an unpopular opinion just now.

Meh, welcome to earth. Lots of deeply flawed people are still celebrated for what they accomplish. See, e.g., Steve Jobs.

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