The Professional Footballers Association of Ireland has taken down a blog post on convicted rapist Ched Evans, which linked his case to those of the Birmingham Six and Guilford Four.
Evans was released last month after serving a sentence for the rape of a 19-year-old woman in May 2011 in Rhyl, North Wales.
The Welsh striker denied rape, saying the sex was consensual, but he was found guilty by a jury at Caernarfon Crown Court in 2012.
In a blog post, Stuart Gilhooly, a solicitor for the PFAI, said he believed that Evans deserved another chance - yet also cast doubt on the conviction, referring to the crime as "alleged".
"This crime, as alleged, was at the bottom end. There was no violence and thankfully the victim has no recollection of it.
"This, I hasten to add, does not make it right, or anything close to it, but it is nonetheless a mitigating factor."
"Suffice to say that Ched Evans has a very arguable case that he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice. If having sex with a drunk woman is rape then thousands of men are guilty of rape every day."
Gilhooly went on to link the case to that of the Guilford Four and the Birmingham Six, who were initially convicted of IRA bombings, but later acquitted after a long campaign for justice.
"But there is surely nothing worse than being accused of a crime which you genuinely believe you didn't commit," Gilhooly said.
"The argument against that is that a jury convicted him of the crime. The same applied to the Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six. They got no public sympathy either.
"Maybe he is guilty or perhaps he's innocent, none of us knows for sure. Surely, either way, he deserves a chance at redemption. Don't we all?"
Last week Sheffield United, the 25-year-old's former club, caused uproar after saying they would allow the ex-Wales international to train with them after serving half of his five-year prison sentence.
The move prompted a patron of the club to resign and British Olympic champion and Sheffield United fan Jessica Ennis-Hill later announced that she would want her name removed from a stand at Bramall Lane if the club were to re-sign the player.
