New West Ham midfielder’s gay slur tweet deleted
Footballer Ravel Morrison has been criticised after a violently-worded message appeared on his Twitter page with a gay slur this week.
The message on 19-year-old Morrison’s account read: “Crack head? Go suck out u little faggot your a guy that talks if u see me you try slap me I’m in manchester every week.”
Morrison was signed to West Ham United just over a week ago, on 31 January for three and a half years. The fee the club paid for him is not known.
The midfielder has 63,000 followers on the micro-blogging site. He was reportedly antagonised before the tweet appeared.
Alan Duffy of The Justice Campaign told goal.com: “It’s extremely disappointing to hear that yet another professional footballer in England has used homophobic language.
“Ravel Morrison may well not be aware of the damage those kind of remarks can do, but when football stars indulge in that kind of language, it only reinforces the view that football is not a welcoming place of LGBT fans or players.”
West Ham was relegated from the Premier League last year. The Premier League clubs signed the government’s anti-homophobia charter last week.
The tweet also comes during national LGBT History Month which is focused on tackling homophobia in sport.
Last month, Leicester City player Michael Ball was fined £6,000 by the FA for anti-gay comments he made on Twitter.
Ball, 32, admitted the charge of bringing the game into disrepute with his expletive-peppered tweet directed at actor Antony Cotton.
During Cotton’s appearance on I’m A Celebrity, Ball reportedly told followers: “That fucking queer. Get back to your sewing machine in Corrie, you moaning bastard.”
Also this year, Oxford City FC released Lee Steele from his obligations to the club after the footballer posted a comment on Twitter about gay rugby star Gareth Thomas.
Steele, 38, was not seen at a match on Saturday after writing: “I wouldn’t fancy the bed next to Gareth Thomas #padlockeda**ehole”.
