Everton football star Mason Holgate has deleted his Twitter account as accusations of historic anti-gay tweets have surfaced.
The star is also embroiled in a row over allegations of racism following an altercation with Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino last night.
The FA is also launching an investigation into Holgate over the altercation with Firmino who accused him of racial abuse.
The incident took place during the first half of a 2-1 FA Cup third round win for Liverpool.
After the match, Liverpool fans shared screenshots of tweets apparently sent by Holgate between 2012 and 2013.
One reads: “faggottttttttt why?”
Another says: “No but your a glorysupporter and a battyboy!;-)”
And a third reads: “Fag! We’re of Saturday if your feeling it”.
After the tweets were shared, Holgate deleted his Twitter account @MasonHolgateee.
According to reports, Everton FC is investigating Holgate.
Premier League footballer Andre Gray was in 2016 banned for four games by the FA over tweets suggesting that gays should be “burned”.
Andre Gray, a striker for Burnley, faced heavy criticism after shocking homophobic tweets from 2012 resurfaced online.
He wrote: “Is it me or are there gays everywhere? #Burn #Die #MakesMeSick”
Gray did not appeal, and was set to “attend a one-to-one FA education course”, and agreed to pay a £25,000 fine.
Gray said previously: “I would like to respond to media reports with regards to previous tweets posted from my Twitter account.
“Firstly, I want to offer a sincere and unreserved apology to anybody I may have offended in relation to these tweets. The tweets were posted four years ago when I was a completely different person to the man I am now. I was at a very different point in my life back then – one that I’ve worked hard to move on from.
“Thankfully a lot has changed in my life since then. I have experienced a lot over the past four years and have had to take responsibility for a number of things in my life which has enabled me to mature and grow as a person since that time.
“I have a lot of regrets regarding a number of things I’ve done in the past and realise I have made some big mistakes, none more so than these tweets, but I would like to stress that I’ve worked incredibly hard to completely transform my life since that time.”
“To clarify, I do not hold the beliefs written in those tweets whatsoever. I can assure everybody that I am absolutely not homophobic and as said previously I can only apologise and ask for forgiveness to anyone I offended.
“Thankfully I am not the guy I was back then and will continue to work hard both on and off the pitch to become a better person.”.
