Fantasy football winner disqualified over allegedly racist comments about Raheem Sterling
Written by News on 12/08/2020
The winner of this year’s Fantasy Premier League competition – an online game entered by more than seven million players – has been disqualified over comments believed to be about Manchester City striker Raheem Sterling.
Aleksandar Antonov, from Bulgaria, topped the scoring charts at the end of this season but was stripped of his expected title following “end-of-season checks”.
In a YouTube video, Mr Antonov described how comments he made “several months ago” to around five friends on Facebook Messenger had been sent to the Premier League.
It is understood the allegedly racist comments were about City and England forward Sterling.
“The reason for my disqualification is a moment of frustration with a player, put into words, written between friends,” Mr Antonov said.
“It was never meant to offend any footballer. It is not something I posted or said directly towards a footballer.”
“What we write with my friends in our chat is football banter, I’m sure it’s not that different from your football banter chats.”
In a further explanation, made in a series of Twitter posts, Mr Antonov admitted he had made a “mean comment worthy of disqualification” and deserves his “punishment”.
“It is hard to explain to English speaking people why I never meant it to be a racist comment,” he said.
“The word ‘n****’ in Bulgarian does not have nearly the same connotation as the n-word in English.
“I have never used the n-word to anyone English-speaking or of black color in Bulgaria.
“I have never intend [sic] to cause any racial harm to anyone, EPL players included, and up to now I have never done so.
“It may sound stupid, but I actually really don’t condone racist behavior and this is not just for black people but all other races, from which I have had many friends especially when living in the UK.
“I do have to apologize to anyone that has taken as an offense against them or their friends on racial basis. I understand why this is.”
Mr Antonov added he had been “taught a harsh lesson” and expressed his hope that others would learn from the incident.
Following Mr Antonov’s disqualification, Joshua Bell has now been confirmed as the winner of the 2019/20 Fantasy Premier League, which was entered by a total of more than 7.6 million players.
His prize includes a seven-night break in the UK including VIP hospitality at two of next season’s Premier League matches.
The Premier League did not comment on Mr Antonov’s explanation of the reasons for his disqualification.
“The team formerly occupying the No 1 position has been removed from FPL due to a breach of our terms,” they said in a statement.
Following the killing of George Floyd in the US, Premier League players have worn shirts adorned with the Black Lives Matter message.
Teams also “took a knee” following the kick-off to matches in June.
Sterling has previously suffered racist abuse by supporters at matches and has frequently spoken out about discrimination.
(c) Sky News 2020: Fantasy football winner disqualified over allegedly racist comments about Raheem Sterling
