Robbie Lyle has released a Twitter statement in response to the AFTV racism leaks that have emerged.
Twitter has been awash with talk about the Claude racism affair as the AFTV (formerly Arsenal Fan TV) regular could be heard referring to Tottenham star Son Heung-min as ‘DVD’ during the North London Derby.
AFTV host Robbie has now apologised in a lengthy statement, insisting that Claude now leaves the channel and undertakes an education course to avoid such an incident taking place again in the future.
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“I would like to sincerely apologise for the derogatory remark heard on the AFTV livestream on Sunday, and for the response video that we put out today where we failed to apologise and take onus for the comment,” Robbie said.
“As a channel that has millions of viewers around the world, I fully recognise the power that comments made by myself or people on our platform have, and it is paramount that we do not allow comments of this nature to be made in any form.
“As such, it is only appropriate that Claude is removed from the channel indefinitely. In no way do I or AFTV condone racism of any kind and it is important we take appropriate action in line with the comment made.
“I have spoken with representatives at @kickitout earlier today and must reiterate that this is not an issue I would ever try to sweep under the carpet or ignore. The response video was a mistake and I can only apologise that we did not take responsibility for the comment sooner.
“In this time we will ensure that Claude undertakes an education programme to understand the full severity of the remark made on Sunday, and that comments of a similar nature are under no circumstance made again in the future.”
AFTV were already pretty unpopular with many Arsenal fans and this saga is only going to dent their reputation even further.