“We felt it important we identify ourselves as the players involved in an incident which occurred during the training camp in Spain this week out of respect for team-mates who otherwise could be implicated by association.”
The four West Brom players involved in a “training camp incident” in Spain have come forward and apologised for their actions. Jonny Evans, Gareth Barry, Jake Livermore and Boaz Myhill released a statement on Friday night, ahead of West Brom’s FA Cup tie with Southampton on Saturday afternoon.
According to the BBC, the four players were interviewed by police in Barcelona, after allegedly stealing a taxi outside a fast-food restaurant in the city. The players were not arrested for the incident, which occurred in the early hours of Friday morning.
The report claims that the West Brom players took a taxi to a fast-food restaurant. When they left at 5:30 am, they allegedly took the taxi and drove back to the team hotel, without the driver of the taxi, who reportedly got his car back at 8:00 am.
West Brom, who are bottom of the Premier League, were in Barcelona for a training camp, and the team’s manager Alan Pardew said the four players had broken a midnight curfew.
The four players released a statement on West Brom’s website, apologising for their actions:
“We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to our team-mates, the Head Coach, the Club and especially the supporters for the events which have been the subject of widespread and negative publicity. We felt it important we identify ourselves as the players involved in an incident which occurred during the training camp in Spain this week out of respect for team-mates who otherwise could be implicated by association.
“We freely acknowledge and apologise for the break of curfew which we accept represented a breach of the standards of professionalism required of us as representatives of West Bromwich Albion FC. The Club has informed us that it will now conduct its own inquiry into the incident and we will co-operate fully. In the meantime, we would like to assure our supporters that this incident does not reflect the determination and resolve we possess to do all we can to recover a difficult season.”
