‘I was a product of my environment…’
Watford striker Andre Gray has blamed a lack of education for the homophobic tweets which saw him receive a four-game ban in 2016.
Gray had sent the tweets in 2012, when he had been a player for non-league Hinckley United. They resurfaced four years later, when he scored for Burnley during their 2-0 Premier League win over Liverpool in August 2016. He was later charged with misconduct by the Football Association, who handed him a suspension.
Gray issued an apology at the time, insisting he had become a ‘completely different person’ in the time since the offensive tweets were posted.
Now 27, the striker has again acknowledged that he was in the wrong after being labelled a ‘hypocrite’ on Twitter.
Gray appeared on talkSPORT on Thursday where he condemned the racist abuse teammate Troy Deeney had received recently. Responding to a tweet about his appearance on the radio station, one Twitter user replied: ‘But apparently homophobia is compoletely fine’ – a reference to his old tweets.
‘Not at all,’ Gray replied. ‘I was a product of my environment and uneducated about all these types of situations,’ he added.
‘I have been self taught most my adult life which is why I say it’s not so much the children that need the educating it’s the parents and role models who need it to pass down to the next generation.’
Not at all, i was a product of my environment and uneducated about all these types of situations, i have been self taught most my adult life which is why i say its not so much the children that need the educating its the parents+role models who need it to pass down 2 next gen
— Andre Gray (@AndreGray) April 11, 2019
When it was later put to him that it was ‘strange’ that he had been invited on to the show to discuss discrimination given the homophobic tweets he sent in the past, Gray insisted it was important for people to see that opinions can change with ‘learning, listening and meeting people with an open mind.’
Possibly because i can be an example of how opinions and ignorance can change with learning, listening and meeting people with an open mind to everything
— Andre Gray (@AndreGray) April 11, 2019
