The BBC have apologised for a report about a donation from Republic of Ireland and Everton defender Seamus Coleman. The Irish captain made a €5,000 donation to a fundraising effort for his fellow Irishman which resulted in an inaccurate headline from the British outlet.
Coleman explained last month he saw Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had donated money and decided to do similar.
We have to be together. I think football is great for sticking together. Rivalries go out the window with stuff like that; you don’t see a crest or a jersey, you see a man who came to support his team and unfortunately it didn’t end too well for him that night.
However, the BBC published a tweet which incorrectly stated Coleman was concerned with how it would be received by Everton fans. As reported by the Sunday Times, they did subsequently amend the story.
This prompted a huge backlash online with several fans questioning how the story was framed. Liverpool FC's head of club and supporter liaison Tony Barrett tweeted his response to the report and BBC online sports editor Ian Singleton responded to clarify the error.
For what it’s worth I don’t know a single Evertonian who questioned this gesture and it’s not what Coleman said anyway. https://t.co/XOIRiq6yjX
— Tony Barrett (@TonyBarrett) November 7, 2018
Hi Tony. We got this one wrong - it was an error on the website which the Twitter account took the wording from. I apologise for this - & assure you it was not intentional. The tweet has been deleted & the story amended. Thanks to all for flagging.
— Ian Singleton (@iansingleton1) November 7, 2018
Sean Cox is still undergoing treatment. A GoFundMe page was set up with the goal of raising €2million to cover the costs of the Meath man's rehabilitation after he suffered life-changing brain injuries when he was attacked by Roma fans outside Anfield before Liverpool's Champions League semi-final against the Italian side in April.
If you would like to play your part and support this fantastic cause, you can donate here.
