Playing Defence in Sexual Assault ‘Trial by Media’: The Male Footballer’S Imaginary Body

The intense media coverage of lawsuits in which footballers from two Australian codes were charged with alleged sexual assault is discussed. The author argues that the cases were actually judged in the media and their presentation could be constituted as legal defence. It is suggested that an 'imaginary' of the footballer's body was produced in these debates. This becomes part of a wider system of representation, which together with the practical training of the body involved in football, creates a subjectivity that legitimises destructive behaviour such as rape, disregards the bodies of others, and has implications for the way footballers treat others off and on the field.