Jibreel Tramboo comments in The Athletic on Mansfield Town starting a player after his guilty plea in cyclist’s death

Jibreel Tramboo has provided comment on the criticism that League One football club Mansfield Town has faced after selecting forward Lucas Akins for a match just hours after he pleaded guilty to causing the death of a cyclist by careless or inconsiderate driving.

“Causing the death of another person is one of the most serious crimes someone can be charged with,” Jibreel told The Athletic. “My reaction is that Mansfield owed a level of diligence to the integrity of the sport. To select him for a game on the day he pleaded guilty was ethically wrong.

“Before that point when he pleaded guilty, it is more of a grey area. I’m a big advocate of saying you cannot assume his guilt prior to then, and so there is a scale of tolerance that he is owed until then.

“But once he has pleaded guilty, he should not have played. If he had been playing for a Premier League club and pleaded guilty, I doubt he would have still been picked. In the Football League, he has likely not been subject to the same level of scrutiny.”

Jibreel’s comments were published in The Athletic, 3 April 2025.