West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice has for the first time been called up to play for England and it looks like he is already caught in a controversy.
Some fans have chosen to dig through the midfielder’s old social media posts and they have come up with ones in which the player had shown his support to the IRA.
In one post he said, ‘My brudda. UP THE RA. Wait till we draw England’, and in another, he used the hashtag ‘UPTHERA’.
These age-old comments have brought in some serious limelight on the player who has been forced to come up with an apology.
Declan Rice wrote an Instagram story in which he said:
“I am aware that a poorly-expressed comment I made when I was a junior player has been circulated on social media.
“I recognise now that my attempt to show support for my team-mates at the time could be negatively interpreted.
“While my naive words were not meant to be a political opinion and do not represent who I am, I sincerely apologise for any offence caused.”
But the main question which everyone has been asking is whether Declan Rice has fallen into the bad books of Gareth Southgate?
The Three Lions boss was also asked the same question recently, to which he said(as reported):
“I haven’t had a chance[to speak with Declan Rice] because it’s basically broken as I was on the way down.
“I’ll go and just make sure he knows that firstly, that he’s OK and that he’s supported. I understand that it’s not a situation that should just be dismissed but equally the context, the period of time that’s passed and his age at the time is all relevant in how we should deal with it.
“It won’t affect anything in that respect (whether Declan Rice plays or not).
“He’s fitted in really well with the team. He’s looked excellent. There isn’t a player that has been in the squad who I would hesitate to start in the game, so I am very confident in all of them.
“That is the perils of social media for any of us with kids,
“I’ll go and just make sure he knows that firstly, that he’s OK and that he’s supported
“You just don’t know what that interaction might be. When they’re socialising with friends, you’re a bit braver in some of your comments or a bit less thoughtful in some of your comments, so I think for all young people that is a danger.
“There are so many positive things about social media, but, as we know, there are lots of negatives.
“It’s not representative of what he believes and feels, and his views.
“And outside of that, the obvious point is that this was when he was 15 or 16 when he was engaged in a social conversation with friends.
“I think any of us at that age, in those sorts of situations, have probably said things, discussed things, written things, that might not look the way that’d we’d want (them to) several years later, so I don’t think he can say or do any more than he’s said at this point in time.”
“I think people understand. Most people will have children of those sorts of ages and people are still maturing at that age.
“You’re in conversations with friends that, you can get giddy and you can say things that maybe you don’t even know enough about or you don’t understand the context.
“So, I think our fans and our public will recognise that fact.”
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