The Football League has confirmed that convicted rapist Ched Evans is free to join any club who want to sign him after it was revealed that he would return to training with former club Sheffield United this week.

The Blades said this evening that they had received a request from the Professional Footballers' Association to allow Welsh striker Evans, 25, to train with them so that he can build up his fitness levels.

In a statement this evening, the Football League said that any club considering signing Evans has to take into account the ramifications themselves.

It read: "Should the Football League receive a request from any of its member clubs to register the player, we will have no option but to accept it - assuming that all other aspects of the proposed registration are in order.

"Ultimately the choice of whether to engage a player that has been released from a custodial sentence will be one for individual clubs who, having ensured that the player has the required permission from the probation service to work in football, will have to make their own assessment of the potential consequences for their public reputation and business affairs, as well as the relationship they have with their own supporters.

"While we fully understand the gravity of the offence in question in this particular case, we also recognise that there is a value to wider society in enabling offenders to be rehabilitated through a return to their chosen line of employment. Equally, however, it is important never to lose sight of the effect that crime has on its victims."

An online petition calling for Sheffield United not to take Evans back has acquired over 150,000 signatures.