Premier League forced to DELETE controversial social media video that made 'whoops' comment about Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario
The Premier League has been forced to issue an embarrassing climbdown after deleting a social media video that openly mocked Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. The north London club's miserable run of form hit a new low with a 2-1 defeat against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday, but the frustration of the Spurs faithful was exacerbated when the league's official account appeared to join in on the criticism. Following a significant online backlash and a formal complaint from the club, the clip was removed from public view on Monday morning.Igor Tudor’s men found themselves in a hole early on, trailing 2-0 within the first 34 minutes after goals from Harry Wilson and Alex Iwobi gave the Cottagers a commanding lead. Although Richarlison managed to pull one back with a second-half header, Tottenham could not find a way to level the scoring. The result marked their fourth consecutive defeat in the top flight, extending a winless league run to 10 matches. With the club sitting just four points above the relegation zone, the mood among the fanbase was already toxic before the official league account decided to weigh in with a post that missed the mark.The official Premier League account, which boasts a massive following of 44.9 million on X, posted a 13-second video on Sunday evening showing a particularly wayward moment from the Italian shot-stopper. The footage captured Vicario attempting a long free-kick that sailed directly out of play for a Fulham goal kick. While common for rival fan accounts to highlight such errors, it is highly unusual for the league's own platform to join in on the 'banter' at the expense of one of its member clubs' players.The caption accompanying the video was what truly sparked the outrage. It read: "Just how the play was drawn up..." before adding, "An interesting free-kick from Vicario" paired with a smiling emoji. The post was rounded off with the word "Whoops" followed by another smiling emoji. It was published at 10.55pm GMT on Sunday night and quickly gained traction, racking up nearly 400,000 views before the league hierarchy pulled the plug on Monday morning following a swift formal complaint from Tottenham officials who were unhappy with the tone.The backlash from the football community was almost instantaneous, with supporters from various clubs questioning why a neutral governing body was acting like a parody account. As reported by The Daily Mirror, one observer noted before the deletion: "I’m not even a Spurs fan but this just seems …mean? Like an opposing team account taking the p*ss I can 100% understand and appreciate but the official PL account? Yikes." The sentiment was echoed across the platform as fans demanded more decorum from the league’s primary communication channel.Other replies were equally scathing of the decision to post the clip. "Official PL account… good job lads," one user sarcastically remarked. Another added: "Being made fun of by official PL account is wild," while a third questioned the fundamental role of the account: "Aren't you supposed to be neutral and unbiased?" A final summary of the situation from a disgruntled fan read: "I don't think its proper for the Premier League to try to be a banter account. It should be above that."Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reportingUltimately, the Premier League’s decision to delete the video serves as an admission of a lapse in editorial judgment. While the league often uses social media to engage younger audiences with highlights and light-hearted content, the "whoops" comment regarding Vicario crossed a line for many. With the club now dealing with both a sporting crisis and a public relations battle with the league, the pressure on Igor Tudor and his squad to find a win has never been higher as they look to distance themselves from the bottom three.
The Premier League has been forced to issue an embarrassing climbdown after deleting a social media video that openly mocked Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. The north London club's miserable run of form hit a new low with a 2-1 defeat against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday, but the frustration of the Spurs faithful was exacerbated when the league's official account appeared to join in on the criticism. Following a significant online backlash and a formal complaint from the club, the clip was removed from public view on Monday morning.Igor Tudor’s men found themselves in a hole early on, trailing 2-0 within the first 34 minutes after goals from Harry Wilson and Alex Iwobi gave the Cottagers a commanding lead. Although Richarlison managed to pull one back with a second-half header, Tottenham could not find a way to level the scoring. The result marked their fourth consecutive defeat in the top flight, extending a winless league run to 10 matches. With the club sitting just four points above the relegation zone, the mood among the fanbase was already toxic before the official league account decided to weigh in with a post that missed the mark.The official Premier League account, which boasts a massive following of 44.9 million on X, posted a 13-second video on Sunday evening showing a particularly wayward moment from the Italian shot-stopper. The footage captured Vicario attempting a long free-kick that sailed directly out of play for a Fulham goal kick. While common for rival fan accounts to highlight such errors, it is highly unusual for the league's own platform to join in on the 'banter' at the expense of one of its member clubs' players.The caption accompanying the video was what truly sparked the outrage. It read: "Just how the play was drawn up..." before adding, "An interesting free-kick from Vicario" paired with a smiling emoji. The post was rounded off with the word "Whoops" followed by another smiling emoji. It was published at 10.55pm GMT on Sunday night and quickly gained traction, racking up nearly 400,000 views before the league hierarchy pulled the plug on Monday morning following a swift formal complaint from Tottenham officials who were unhappy with the tone.The backlash from the football community was almost instantaneous, with supporters from various clubs questioning why a neutral governing body was acting like a parody account. As reported by The Daily Mirror, one observer noted before the deletion: "I’m not even a Spurs fan but this just seems …mean? Like an opposing team account taking the p*ss I can 100% understand and appreciate but the official PL account? Yikes." The sentiment was echoed across the platform as fans demanded more decorum from the league’s primary communication channel.Other replies were equally scathing of the decision to post the clip. "Official PL account… good job lads," one user sarcastically remarked. Another added: "Being made fun of by official PL account is wild," while a third questioned the fundamental role of the account: "Aren't you supposed to be neutral and unbiased?" A final summary of the situation from a disgruntled fan read: "I don't think its proper for the Premier League to try to be a banter account. It should be above that."Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reportingUltimately, the Premier League’s decision to delete the video serves as an admission of a lapse in editorial judgment. While the league often uses social media to engage younger audiences with highlights and light-hearted content, the "whoops" comment regarding Vicario crossed a line for many. With the club now dealing with both a sporting crisis and a public relations battle with the league, the pressure on Igor Tudor and his squad to find a win has never been higher as they look to distance themselves from the bottom three.
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