England star Foden’s mother ‘punched in face’ during boxing brawl
Premier League leaders Manchester City confirmed they are supporting star player Phil Foden and his family after the England international's mother was seemingly attacked on Saturday.
"The club is aware of a video which has circulated on social media showing Phil Foden and his family being harassed and abused," City said on Sunday.
"We are shocked and appalled about the nature of the abuse and ensuing assault on one of Phil's family members," the club continued in its statement.
"We will continue to give Phil and his family all the support and assistance they need."
A clip of the incident has already been viewed over a million times on Twitter, though the post incorrectly states that the altercation took part at a nightclub.
Instead, the attack occurred backstage at the AO Arena where the Foden family went to watch Kell Brook beat Amir Khan in a welterweight boxing clash.
As the Fodens are being led to a private room, a group of men accost them and hurl insults at 21-year-old Foden such as "c**t" and "f****t", which causes Foden's girlfriend Rebecca Cooke to ask the group: "Who you calling a c**t?"
Foden's mother comes out of the private room and asks a similar question, before ordering the men to "f**k off now" and pushing one of them.
She then receives a wild, unprotected punch to the face and a male accomplice attempts to defend her by hitting one of the men.
After a slight stand-off, a group brawl kicks off which wonderkid Foden joins at one point prior to retreating.
The male that initially defended Claire Foden goes on the front foot and attacks the group with a mixture of punches and kicks, and even picks up a fire extinguisher that is swung at the men as the fracas dies down.
An AO Arena spokesperson remarked that the establishment was "aware of an altercation that took place at the end of the evening as guests were leaving the arena."
"Venue security were on hand and no one requested medical assistance," they added.
As Greater Manchester Police were contacted in relation to the confrontation, the force is yet to reply to outlets such as Reuters to pass comment.
Starting in City's shock 3-2 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur hours before the bust-up, Foden has scored nine goals for the defending English champions this term and has made 151 appearances for them overall since graduating from the academy.
