Oscar joins long list of famous felons

24 October 2014 - 02:25 By AR Modak, Johannesburg
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
NOWHERE TO RUN: Oscar Pistorius leaves the Pretoria High Court after the final day of sentencing yesterday. The athlete was sent to jail for five years
NOWHERE TO RUN: Oscar Pistorius leaves the Pretoria High Court after the final day of sentencing yesterday. The athlete was sent to jail for five years
Image: Alon Skuy

Sport has produced more male felons than female.

Whether murder, adultery, match-fixing or tax evasion, the crimes have mostly been the preserve of males.

From cricket captain Hansie Cronje's involvement with Indian bookies and the philandering Tiger Woods's voracious appetite for women to Lance Armstrong's steroid indulgence, Oscar Pistorius and OJ Simpson's killings of their lovers, Lionel Messi's tax case and Mike Tyson's spousal abuse, the industry has been sullied by people whose on-field fame made them believe they were above the law.

Pistorius's defence team was rightly denied its pleas for leniency, restoring faith in a judiciary that has treated famous people in the same way as ordinary mortals, albeit less severely in the cases of Pistorius and Simpson.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now