Striker Andre Gray’s sexist tweets still online after asking ‘for forgiveness’ over calls for gays to ‘burn’
Shamed Premier League footballer Andre Gray still had a number of sexist tweets on his Twitter account, despite apologising last week for posting that gays should be “burned”.
The Burnley striker had been attacked over the tweets which date from 2012, many of which were deleted on Saturday.
The footballer has since asked “for forgiveness” over the posts, saying he was “a completely different person to the man I am now”.
However, despite this, his Twitter feed still contains a number of sexist tweets, including one that said washing a pair of trainers was “woman’s work”.
Another said: “Black girls feet are always dry and crusty man kmt…never heard of moisturiser.”
The tweets emerged after a number homophobic messages were revealed last week.
One appeared to suggest that gay people should be killed. It reads: “Is it me or are there gays everywhere? #Burn #Die #Makesmesick”.
Another talks about the late singer Whitney Houston, saying: “Wernt [sic] surprised of her death dont no why any1 is.. She was a ravin crackhead”.
A third said he had “#nosympathy” for someone who got ran over on the motorway causing a traffic jam he was stuck in.
The tweets date back to 2012, when the 25-year-old played for Hinckley United.
Since thousands criticised the footballer, and the tweets were deleted, Gray released a statement apologising.
It reads: “I would like to respond to media reports with regards to previous tweets posted from my Twitter account.
“Firstly, I want to offer a sincere and unreserved apology to anybody I may have offended in relation to these tweets. The tweets were posted four years ago when I was a completely different person to the man I am now. I was at a very different point in my life back then – one that I’ve worked hard to move on from.
“Thankfully a lot has changed in my life since then. 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 since that time.
“I have a lot of regrets regarding a number of things I’ve done in the past and 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.”
Adding: “To clarify, I do not hold the beliefs written in those tweets whatsoever. 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.
“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.”
A month ago, the Premier League player criticised fans from Burnley for racism.
Burnley Football Club responded to Gray’s homophobic tweets by saying it doesn’t endorse homophobia in anyway.
“The club also fully supports the FA’s Football v Homophobia campaign,” it said in a statement.
“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 player has also apologised and denied he is, in any way, shape or form homophobic.”
