In June the Coventry City defender Chris Stokes was given a one-game ban and fined by the Football Association for tweeting a homophobic term. Burnley Football Club will make no further statement on this matter.”
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The player has also apologised and denied he is, in any way, shape or form homophobic. The league posted a video to its official Twitter account that used white text on a black screen to unfurl a series of statements the first of which was, Football is gay. “However, as Andre has made clear in a statement on his personal account, these are social posts from four years ago, and in this time he has completely transformed his life. The club also fully supports the FA’s Football v Homophobia campaign. Who hasn’t said dumb things when they were young? … He should be held up as an example to kids from troubled backgrounds.”īurnley later issued a statement along similar lines, saying: “The club would like to make it clear we do not condone any discriminatory behaviour by any employee. The Rangers midfielder Joey Barton, however, backed Gray against the criticism, tweeting: “I know as well as anyone. “It’s extremely important that we work together to kick these attitudes out of sport and create supportive and inclusive environments that enable everyone to feel accepted without exception.” Responding to the original messages, the campaign group Stonewall told the BBC: “While these tweets are of course historic, unfortunately homophobic attitudes and language continue to be an issue in sport, whether that’s on the pitch, in the terraces or on social media. Although not one football player drafted by NFL teams this weekend publicly identifies as anything other than straight or cisgender, the Arizona Cardinals made LGBTQ sports history Saturday with their second-round pick of Trey McBride. Thankfully I am not the guy I was back then and will continue to work hard both on and off the pitch to become a better person.” “I can assure everybody that I am absolutely not homophobic, and as said previously I can only apologise and ask for forgiveness to anyone I offended. To clarify, I do not hold the beliefs written in those tweets whatsoever. He added: “I realise I have made some big mistakes, none more so than these tweets, but I would like to stress that I’ve worked incredibly hard to completely transform my life since that time. “I was at a very different point in my life back then – one that I’ve worked hard to move on from … I have experienced a lot over the past four years and have had to take responsibility for a number of things in my life which has enabled me to mature and grow as a person.” The tweets were posted four years ago when I was a completely different person to the man I am now. Responding to the backlash online, the 25-year-old – who scored Burnley’s second goal against Liverpool – issued a statement, writing: “First I want to offer a sincere and unreserved apology to anybody I may have offended in relation to these tweets.