Phil Brown has issued a statement of apology for his ill-advised holocaust comment.
The former Hull City manager claimed that Chelsea midfielder Tiémoué Bakayoko had “a holocaust of a game” when the Blues fell to a shock 4-1 defeat at Watford last week.
Bakayoko was sent off in the game and Brown compared the Frenchman’s performance to the World War II genocide which claimed the lives of six million Jews.
The insensitive comment, which was made on Jim White’s talkSPORT show, drew several complaints from listeners and following pressure from the Campaign Against Antisemitism for an explanation, Brown released a statement.
“I am genuinely sorry for the hurt and distress I caused by what I said on talkSPORT last week,” Brown said. “It was wrong, offensive and completely unacceptable. I am especially sorry for the significant offence I caused to every member of the Jewish community.
“I fully understand the meaning of the word I used and the horror it represents. I can’t believe I used that word. I was wrong to do so and I am profoundly and wholeheartedly sorry.”
This is not the first controversy that Brown has been involved in.
Six years ago, he suggested that Italy legend Andrea Pirlo was homophobic due to the fact that he’d never played in the Premier League.
“I think the Premier League is the best league in the world,” Brown said in 2012.
“I think that’s why we’re attracting the better foreign players. Why … for the life of me … hasn’t Pirlo played in England?
“Is he just homophobic? Is he Italian through and through and doesn’t want to leave them?”
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