Labour MP accused of shouting ‘homophobic abuse’ at footballer
The Nike match ball infront of rainbow flags during the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United at Vitality Stadium on February 24, 2018. (Catherine Ivill/Getty)
Labour MP Stephen Pound has been accused of shouting anti-gay abuse at a football match.
Mr Pound, 61, was who re-elected last week for Ealing North, was watching Arsenal play against Fulham while in an executive box at the Emirates Stadium last weekend.
Fans sat nearby claimed they heard the Fulham supporter calling Sol Campbell a “big f**king fairy”.
They also claimed he made obscene hand gestures and shouted at the referee: “What game are you at, you f***ing w***er?”.
One Arsenal fan told the said: “I heard a stream of abuse. Two ladies behind me said they couldn’t believe the language being used and that they thought it was coming from an MP.
“I turned round and recognised Stephen Pound. He called out to Sol Campbell, saying: ‘You are a big f**king fairy.’
“I was so shocked that I wrote what he said down in my programme.”
Mr Pound, who has voted for gay rights measures, denied using homophobic language.
He told the Daily Star: “I was very abusive to the referee.
“But I didn’t call the ref, or any of the players, a ‘fairy’. I wouldn’t use that word to describe anybody.
“I called the referee a w***er and I’ll admit that I was bang out of order.
“But I had just come through a gruelling election campaign and it was the first break I’d had.”
Campbell has suffered homophobic abuse on the pitch for years.
During a trial of two men accused of shouting abuse at him last year, he said he was made to feel “victimised and helpless” by the alleged comments.
