Former Hammer Marko Arnautovic has denied being a racist after allegedly making an offensive slur against North Macedonia, with the Austrian issuing an apology following Sunday’s victory. The former West Ham attacker allegedly made a racial slur following his late strike, saying ‘I’m f***ing your Albanian mother’ in the direction of Ezgjan Alioski, according to Koha.
The report suggests that Arnautovic made the slur in Serbian, believing that the Leeds United player would understand him.
Austria captain David Alaba was seen holding Arnautovic’s jaw to stop the striker from speaking. Only when he stopped speaking to Alioski did the former Bayern Munich man release his grip.
The 32-year-old posted a statement on social media to insist he is not racist and has ‘friends from almost every country’
Arnautovic has escaped a fine of £7,600 for the statement, with fans calling for UEFA to ban the feisty player.
The Austrian has taken to social media to apologise for the ‘heated words exchanged’, before insisting that he is not a racist and has ‘friends in almost every country’. ‘There were some heated words yesterday in the emotions of the game for which I would like to APOLOGIZE – especially to my friends from North Macedonia and Albania,’ he wrote.
‘I would like to say one thing very clearly: I AM NOT A RACIST! I have friends in almost every country and I stand for diversity. Everyone who knows me is aware of that.’
Some of my best friends are …
I’m not a Racist but…….(add Racist comment)
Scoring a goal was the best answer to whatever abuse he got from Alioski physical and / or verbal. It goes on all the time and Arnie’s response was OTT.