On Friday Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor apologized via Twitter for a tweet he posted appearing to mock some of his Magpies teammates, that created a racism scandal on the social media site.
Taylor, 27, has since deleted the message which caused huge offense and is sure to see the defender punished by the English Football Association and his club.
In the tweet, pictured below, Taylor is said to be having some ‘banter’ with Newcastle teammates Papiss Demba Cisse, Vurnon Anita, Moussa Sissoko and Massadio Haidara.
The message was in response to Haidara making fun of Taylor’s attempts to learn to speak French and he replied “It’s always good to see you guys smiling,” and posted a picture of what looks like an African tribesman, a man wearing a fake afro wig and included his four black teammates in the Tweet.
Those players have since stepped in and jumped to Taylor’s defense, but the content of the tweet from the no-nonsense defender cannot be ignored.
This isn’t the first-time a Premier League player has been caught up in a racism storm on Twitter, as last season Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand was fined $65,000 by the FA after using the term “choc-ice” on the social media site.
We haven’t heard the last from this as Taylor will instantly regret posting the bizarre picture which has offended many and gone viral across the soccer world and on the internet.
See the former England Under-21 captains apology below, but it all seems a little bit late for that.