England and Tottenham Hotspur football star Dele Alli has been forced to apologize after facing accusations of mocking an Asian man in a “racist” video about the coronavirus.
Spurs ace Alli, 23, posted footage of himself on Snapchat as he was preparing to fly out of London’s Heathrow Airport last week.
In the video, shared by the UK media, Alli is seen wearing a black facemask and zooming in on a man with Asian appearance in the background who is unaware he is being filmed.
“Corona whatttttt, please listen with volume,” Alli captioned the clip, which appears to pick up Chinese voices in the background.
He then moves the camera to a table in front of him with antiseptic handwash on it, writing: “This virus gunna have to be quicker than that to catch me.”
Alli was accused of racism over the clip, with one person telling the Daily Star, which first shared the clip, that it was “wholly inappropriate to be filming this man and making jokes about the coronavirus.”
Alli, who pockets £100,000 (US$128,000) a week at London club Spurs, has apologized, saying: “I regret posting the video on my Snapchat and I immediately removed it when I realised that it may cause offense.
“This was never my intention at all. For anyone that was offended, I’d like to offer my sincerest apologies.”
Coronavirus has spread across the globe after breaking out in the Chinese of Wuhan. It has killed more than 800 people and infected almost 37,000 worldwide, the vast majority of those in China.
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Officials have criticized racism toward the Chinese community amid the outbreak, with UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock saying: “I deplore any attacks on the Chinese community. This is not about one part of the world.”
By sharing his video, football star Alli was accused of "fanning the flames of racism" by one person speaking to the Daily Star.
The footage posted by Alli was reportedly filmed on Thursday as he prepared to jet off to Dubai amid the Premier League’s mid-season break.