Despite the club initially defending his actions, Everton’s Tim Cahill has apologised for his goal celebrations against Portsmouth on Sunday. After putting the Toffees into the lead for the second time, the Australian wheeled away, making a handcuffs gesture which was a tribute to his recently-jailed brother. The Guardian now reports that the player is starting to feel remorseful about his actions and didn’t want to cause any offence.
“It was a spontaneous and emotional reaction but was only intended to signify to my brother that I was thinking of him and missing him,” Cahill said today. “It was not intended to cause any offence to any other party and I wholeheartedly apologise if any offence was caused.”
Perhaps one should be forgiving of a goal celebration done in the heat of the moment, but it’s probably right that Cahill has held his hands up on this one. After all, footballers shouldn’t use the attention they get from scoring goals to make tributes to a family member who has been found guilty of a very serious offence.