A trio of players from the English Premier League club Leicester City have issued a public apology, after a video showing racial abuse of three women during their end-of-season tour of Thailand leaked.
The club is currently investigating the video, posted by the UK’s Sunday Mirror over the weekend, that shows three development squad members, including the manager Nigel Pearson‘s son, engaged in the behaviour.
In the video, striker Tom Hopper and goalkeeper Adam Smith, both 22, can be seen in a hotel room alongside defender James Pearson, 21, slinging abuse at three Thai women as various sex acts are performed.
The trio shared the video, apparently filmed by Hopper, with friends at home in the UK, and soon enough, it ended up in the hands of the press, and it has since been widely condemned.
The incident is doubly embarrassing for Leicester, whose father-and-son owners, Thai billionaires Vichai and Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, acquired the club five years ago.
The father and son have reportedly spent millions establishing Leicester in the Premier League, and have built ties between the team and Thailand, even establishing a “strategic partnership” with the country’s tourism authority.
Per reports in BBC News, the three players involved have since issued an apology via their club, saying:
“Following a preliminary meeting in consultation with the three players earlier today, the players involved in the incident are now returning to the UK, in advance of the rest of the squad. Tom Hopper, James Pearson and Adam Smith would like to convey their sincere apologies for their behaviour – to the women involved in the incident, to the club and its owners, to the club’s fans and to their families.”
