Dave Kitson apologises for response to Raheem Sterling abuse
Kitson: "I never have and never will condone any form of racism. I admire Raheem for taking up the fight and saying: 'No, I'm not having this.'"
Sunday 3 May 2020 18:30, UK
Dave Kitson has apologised for the "clumsy language" he used in an interview two years ago when analysing the racist abuse suffered by Raheem Sterling.
Kitson - a former Reading, Portsmouth and Stoke forward - has put himself forward as a potential replacement for Gordon Taylor as head of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA).
However, there has been something of a backlash against Kitson's possible candidacy, owing to remarks he made in an interview with TalkSport after Manchester City forward Sterling was racially abused during a game against Chelsea in 2018.
Kitson told the Daily Mirror his words were being misrepresented and he was actually expressing sympathy for Sterling - having been the victim of abuse on social media himself - but also said he was sorry for the way he had expressed himself.
He said: "I'd looked down Raheem's social media feed and that, while in the beginning it was about his cars and houses, I was pleased to see he had changed it, because there is a lot of jealousy out there, and I knew what it was like to have been on the end of unwarranted abuse.
"I said that it gave people a reason to dislike him as a person.
"Not that he had done anything wrong on his social media account but it gave certain people a platform to vent their ill-informed, ugly views.
"But I'm distressed that this has somehow morphed into a suggestion I condoned the shocking abuse Raheem suffered or that he otherwise asked for it. Nothing could be further from the truth.
"Perhaps I used clumsy language and for that I apologise.
"But I never have and never will condone any form of racism.
"I admire Raheem for taking up the fight and saying: 'No, I'm not having this.' And I agree with him.
"More needs to be done. And I'm prepared to do it."
Darren Lewis of the Daily Mirror told Sky Sports: "Until today - the timing of which people can make their own minds up about - I haven't really had an acceptable response from Dave in relation to the comments he made in a radio interview after Raheem Stering was racially abused.
"He appeared at the time to be suggesting that Sterling was bringing the racial abuse on himself.
"I would have liked to have seen him come out and address the strong reaction to those comments at the time.
"Doing it now he wants to run the organisation of which a huge contingent are black players, former and current, it does not resonate with a lot of people - and I am sure those people will be coming out to make their views clear."
